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GRAMMAR OF RHETORIC, 

AND 

COMPREHENDING 

THE PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE AND STYLE, 

THE ELEMENTS OF TASTE AND CRITICISM ; 

WITH 

RULES, 

i FOR THE STUDY OF COMPOSITION AND ELOQUENCE 

ILLUSTRATED BY 

APPROPRIATE EXAMPLES, 

SELECTED CHIEFLY FROM 

THE BRITISH CLASSICS. 



s 



FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS, OR PRIVATE INSTRUCTION. 

By ALEXANDER JAMIESON, LL. D, 



FOURTH EDITION. 

NEW-HAVEN: 

PBINTEB AN.& PUBLISHED BY A. H. MALTBY AiN^ C0'. 
18£6, 



■Pr. 1 



27102 



1899 



INTRODUCTION, 



) 

X HIS Grammar of Rhetoric is designed to succeed, in 
the course of education, the study of English Grammar. At 
that period, the young student is most likely to enter with 
vigour upon the study of a branch of education, which has 
been deemed essential, in our public seminaries, to form the 
mind for engaging in the active concerns of life. It is then 
that he should be taught, that a minute and trifling study of 
words alone, and an ostentatious and deceitful display of or- 
nament and pomp of expression, must be exploded from his 
compositions, if he would value substance rather than show, 
.and good sense as the foundation of all good writing. The 
principles of sound reason, must then be employed to tame 
Khe impetuosity of youthful feeling, and direct the attention 
io simplicity, as essential to all true ornament. 

In prosecution of this plan, the Author has, throughout 
^this work, first laid down the principles or rules of legiti- 
mate Rhetoric ; he has then given popular illustrations of 
ihese principles or rules ; he has next confirmed his views, 
in the illustrations, by appropriate examples ; and, finally, 
as these examples, or illustrations, furnished analyses or 
-corollaries, he has endeavoured to make them tend to the 
Improvement of the student's good taste, and of true orna- 
smnt in composition. 



__ 



MP 



IV INTRODUCTION, 

Rhetoricians have usually introduced their pupils to a 
knowledge of their art, by some history of the origiA and 
progress of language. Accordingly, in this volume, the Au- 
thor has followed a precedent, which the world has long ap- 
proved. The first book treats of the origin and structure 
of those external signs, which are used, as names, attributes, 
or actions of objects; or to denote the various operations of 
the mental faculties, with which it is our business to become 
acquainted. 

The second book treats of the principles of General 
Grammar ; or, in other words, of the principles upon 
which philosophical grammarians have attempted to discrim- 
inate and classify the component parts of human speech, 
whether spoken or written. An examination of the na- 
ture AND CHARACTER OF THE USE WHICH GIVES LAW TO 

language, naturally followed the " Principles of General 
Grammar," and led to the development of the nature and 
use of verbal criticism, with its principal rules, or can- 
ons, by which, in all oar decisions, we ought to be directed. 
And in this branch of the subject, the object has been to ex- 
ercise the understanding and natural sensibility of the pu- 
pil, by the exhibition of what has pleased or displeased crit- 
ics, in the perusal of the best models of literary composi- , 
tion. It is presumed, that young minds will thus begin to^ 
think and feel for themselves ; and, by the directions they 
receive, acquire confidence in their own powers, of approv- 
ing or disapproving whatever falls under their general rea- 
sonings, in the higher qualities of composition. True criti- 
cism will teach the student how he may escape those errors 
and mistakes, to which he may be exposed, either from not 
understanding, or from misapplying, her established rules. 
But to render her assistance most effectual, the Author has 
dwelt very full v on the principles of Grammatical Puri- 
ty, as it respects barbarisms, solecisms, ideotisms, vulgar- 



I»TRODUGTI©N\ V 

isms, impropriety in phrases, and as it teaches precision of 
expression in speech or writing. 

THE NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES, THE GENE- 
RAL PRINCIPLES OF PERSPICUITY, AND THE HARMONY OF PE- 
RIODS, which are illustrated in book third, have unfolded 
numerous errors to be avoided in the structure of sentences, 
and the arrangement of single words. The qualities of 
unity and strength, in the structure of sentences, have 
gathered around them a series of rules, which, if applied to 
the exercises that the pupil should be required to write, can- 
not fail to enlighten his mind, and govern his judgment, in 
the principles and practice of composition. It was neces- 
sary, however, to show how much perspicuity of language 
and style contributed to the elegance of classical composi- 
tions and eloquence; and, accordingly, this matter is treat- 
ed precisely as Dr. Campbell has treated it, in his " Philoso- 
phy of Rhetoric." No writer has yet excelled Dr. Blair, in 
luminous views of the " Harmony of Periods;" and these 
views we have embodied in this Grammar. 

In book fourth, the principal " Rhetorical Figures'* are 
treated at great length, and illustrated by copious examples, 
without, however, encumbering the mind of the pupil with 
catalogues from the ancient critics, of other figures, partly 
grammatical and partly rhetorical, which would have fur- 
nished little instruction, and less amusement. For it is, 
perhaps, not the least task on the part of the instructors of 
youth, to render their precepts engaging, by vivacity of im- 
agination, and the charms of genuine ornament. This, how- 
ever, is an inferior merit, when compared with the chaste- 
ness and morality which should distinguish examples and 
illustrations selected for youth. The principles of virtue 
and honour, of delicacy and refined taste, are, it is hoped, 
inculcated throughout these examples, with that assiduity 
which will entitle the Author to the humble reputation of 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

having laboured to improve, in those for whom he wrote, the 
important habits of a religious education. 

In book fifth, the nature of taste, and the SOURCES 
of its pleasures, compiled partly from Dr. Blair's Lec- 
tures, partly from Lord Karnes's Elements of Criticism, 
and agreeably to Alison's " Essays on Taste," have been 
set in such lights, as may enable the youthful mind to attain 
some practical acquaintance with the productions of genius, 
in Poetry, Sculpture, or Painting. A correct perception of 
the excellencies of composition and eloquence, is closely 
connected with a knowledge of the productions in the fine 
arts. The young student, on being made acquainted with 
the principles which regulate the standard of taste, so far 
from learning to suspend the exercise of his own judgment, 
is taught to investigate the grounds upon which those prin- 
ciples are supported, and in comparing them with the sim- 
ple dictates of his own mind, to form, from the various 
sources which reading and reflection may afford him, the 
elements of rearing for himself a standard of taste, to 
which, in more matured life, he may refer such productions of 
the fine arts, or of polite literature, as fall under his obser- 
vation. 

Book sixth, appropriated to the general characters of 
style, treats, first, of the diffuse and concise styles of compo- 
sition ; secondly, of the dry, plain, neat, elegant, and flow- 
ing styles; thirdly, of the simple, affected, and vehement 
styles ; and then gives directions for forming style. Of 
what importance the illustrations and examples of these 
several styles must be in the composition of themes, it is 
superfluous here to speak. The remaining chapters oi Book 
VI. are devoted to " The Conduct of a Discourse in all Us 
Parts ;"— to "Historical Writing,"— « Annals,"— « Me- 
moirs" — " Biography '," — " Philosophical Writing" ~~ 
" Dialogue," and Epistolatory Correspondence," 



INTRODUCTION. Yll 

In book seventh, the origin and different kinds of Po- 
etry are handled more with a view to form the pupil's taste 
for the study of Poetry, than to inspire him with the thirst of 
reaping fame in the doubtful field of poetic composition. 
Yet, to those whose genius may lead them that way, the 
principles of poetic composition, of its several styles, and 
of the ornaments which it admits, cannot fail to prove use- 
ful. 

The conclusion of the work treats of pronunciation, or 
delivery, as it respects, chiefly, public speaking; and here, 
as in Book VI. and VII. the labours of the Author's pre- 
decessors have chiefly furnished principles and illustra= 
toons. 

London, August 24, 1818. 



CONTENTS, 



BOOK I 



©F LANGUAGE AND STYLE, AS THE FOUNDATION OF ELO- 
QUENCE. 

Page 
CHAPTER I. — Of the Rise and Progress of Language in the 

Structure and Composition of Words 19 

CHAPTER II;— Gf the Rise and Progress of Language in the 

Manner of uttering and pronouncing Words 22 

CHAPTER III.— Of the Progress of Language in the Style 

and Character of Speech 25 

CHAPTER IV— Of the Rise and Progress of Language, as 

respects the Order and Arrangement of Words in Sentences fi 1 ? 
Conclusion 31 

CHAPTER V.— Of the Origin and Progress of Writing ib, 

CHAPTER VI. — A Comparison of spoken with written Lan- 
guage ; or of Words uttered in our hearing, with Words 
represented *o the Eye 3£ 



BOOK II. 



«V THE STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE; OR THE PRINCIPLES. OF 
GENERAL GRAMMAR. 

CHAPTER I.— Of the several Parts of which Speech or Lan- 
guage is composed 3? 
Of Nouns 38 
Of Number 39 
Of Cases 40 
Of Gender ib 
Of Articles 4J 

* 



X G0NTENT5. 

Of Pronouns 42 

Of Adjectives ib. 

Of the Verb 43 

Of Tenses 44 

Theory of Moods 46 

Auxiliaries 47 

The Infinitive Moo<$ ib. 

Of the Adverb 48 

Prepositions 41) 

Conjunctions ib. 

Interjections 50 
CHAPTER II.— The Nature and Character of the Use which 

gives Law to Language ib. 
Language mainly a species of Fashion ib, 
Use, or the Custom of Speaking, the sole original Standard of 
Conversation, as far as respects the Expression; and the Cus- 
tom of Writing the chief Standard of Style 61 
Reputable Use ib. 
Vulgarisms ib. 
Authors of Reputation 52 
National Use 53 
The English Language, properly so called ib. 
Professional Dialects ib. 
National Use, as opposed to Foreign ib. 
Present Use 54 
CHAPTER III— The Nature and Use of verbal Criticism, with 
its principal Rules or Canons, by which, in all our decisions, 
we ought to be directed 65 
Good Use 56 
The divided Use ib. 
Conon the First, when Use is divided as to any particular Word 

or Phrase 57 
Canon the Second. Tn doubtful cases, regard ought to be had, 

in our decisions, to the Analogy of the Language ib. 

Canon the Third, prefers what is most agreeable to the Ear ib. 

Canon the Fourth, allows simplicity to determineour choice 68 
Canon the Fifth, prefers what is most conformable to ancient 

Usage ib. 
Every thing favoured by good Use, is not on that account wor- 
thy to be retained , ib. 
Conon the Sixth, points out such Words and Phrases as merit 

degradation 59 
Criteria, by which we may discriminate the objectionable Words 

from all others 60 

Canon the Seventh, points to Words that require dismission 61 
Canon the Eighth, respects Words become obsolete , ib., 
Canon the ^inth, enables us to detect Solecisms and idiomatical 

Phrases ib. 
Canon the Tenth, regards the suppression of a significant Term, 

which hath come into good Use 63 

CHAPTER IV— Of Grammatical Purity 64 

Pure English Composition ib. 



CONTENTS. , 5>i 

Tage 
The reproach of Barbarism may be incurred in three different 
ways: 1st,- By the Use of Words entirely obsolete ; 2dly, By 
the Use of Words entirely new; or, thirdly, By new Forma- 
tions and Compositions, from simple and primitive Words in 

present Use y* 

By the Use of absolete Words ib. 

The Use of new Words inundates a Language - ib. 

By the use of good words new modelled 66 

The Solecism €7 

The Impropriety 69 

Of Improprieties arising from a similitude in Sense 3b. 

The Idiotism ?0 

The Pleonasm ib. 

The Vulgarism 71 

Impropriety in Phrases 72 

Precision 73 

Of Words reckoned Synonymous 77 



BOOK III. 



ON THE NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES, THE GENE- 
RAL PRINCIPLES OF PERSPICUITY, AND THE HARMONY OF 
PERIODS* 

CHAPTER I.— Of the Nature of Sentences and Periods SI 

Simple Sentences S3 

Complex Sentences ib. 

Short Sentences / 84 

The full Period 65 
CHAPTER II.— Of the Errors to be avoided in the Structure 

of Sentences, and the Arrangement of Single Words S6 

The Arrangement of the Agent, the Action, and the Subject 83 
Of the Arrangement of the other Parts of Speech, Pronouns, 

Participles, Prepositions, and Conjunctions ib. 

CHAPTER III.— On the Structure of Sentences 90 

The distinction of Long and Short ones ib. 

The Properties most essential to a perfect Sentence 91 

Clearness and Precision ib. 

In the Position of Adverbs 92 

f n Circumstances in the middle of a Sentence ib. 
In the proper Disposition of the relative Pronouns, who, which, 

what, whose ib. 
Unity 94 
Strength 95 
Redundant Words, redundant Members, new Ideas, newThoughts 97 
The Copulative Particle ib. 
Disposition of the capital Word or Words 100 
The Members of Sentences rising and growing in their Impor- 
tance above one another 102 
Oratorical Climas ib 



Hi 5'<WTE5T5>- 

CHAPTER IV.— Perspicuity 106 

Obscurity. — TV Obscure from Defect 107 

From bad Arrangement ib. 

The same Word used in different Senses 108 

From too artificial a Structure of the Sentence 109 

Technical Tc -ms ib. 

CHAPTER V.—The double Meaning, ib. 

Equivocation ib. 

CHAPTER VI.— Ambiguity 112 

In Adjectives 314 

In the Use of Substantive Nouns ib. 

Ambiguity in using the Conjunctions ib. 

In a particular Clause or Expression ITS 

The squinting Construction ib. 

CHAPTER VII.— Of the Unintelligible 116 

The Unintelligible from Confusion of Thought ib. 

The Unintelligible from Affectation of Excellence ITT 

CHAPTER VIII.— The various Species of the Unintelligible 118 

The Unintelligible from want of Meaning in the Writer ib. 

The Puerile 119 

The learned Nonsense ^ ib. 

The Profound 120 

The Marvellous ib. 

CHAPTER IX— Of the Harmony of Periods 121 

How a melodious Structure is formed 122 

The Distribution of the several Members 124 

The Close or Cadence of the whole Sentence 125 

A falling off at the End always injurious ib- 
Vivacity and Strength of Composition promoted ; various 

Measures 126 
All Appearances affecting Harmony are disagreeable 127 
The Curn-nt of Sound adapted to the Tenor of a Discourse 128 
CHAPTER X — Resemblance between Sound and Sense — In- 
version 129 
Inversion 132 
The Inversions of Modern Languages 13$ 



BOOK IV. 



GF FIGURES. 

CHAPTER I.— Of the Character and Advantage of Figures 13$ 

Figures of Words ib. 

Figures of Thought ib. 

Tropes, or Figures 137 

Table of Figures, which, among related Objects, extend the 

Properties one to another 139 

Table of Subjects expressed figuratively 14Q> 

Table of Attributes expressed figuratively 142 

CHAPTER II.— Metaphor H3- 



CONTENTS. Sm 

Page 
All Metaphor imports Comparison, and is, in that respect, a 

Figure of Thought 143 
Of ati the Figures of Speech, none comes so near to painting 

as Metaphor 144. 
Metaphors must be suited to the Nature of the Subject of which 

we treat 'b. 
The Choice of Objects from whence Metaphors, and other Fig- 
ures are to be drawn. 145 
Metaphors drawn from Objects of Resemblance, which is the 
Foundation of the Metaphors, be clear and perspicuous, not 
far-fetched, nor difficult to discover 146 
In the Conduct of Metaphors, we are never to jumble meta- 
phorical and plain Language together 147 
Never make two different Metaphors meet on one Object 148 
Addison's Rule for examining the Propriety of Metaphors 149 
Metaphors must not be too far pursued 150 
CHAPTER III.— Comparisons or Similes 152 
The Difference between Comparisons or Similes ib. 
All Comparisons may be reduced to the following Heads 153 
Explaining Comparisons ib. 
Embellishing Comparisons 154 
Comparisons employed to elevate or depress the principal Object 155 
Comparisons should not be instituted between Objects, the Re- 
semblance of which is either obscure, faint, or remote 156 
Comparisons should not be deduced from Objects which rise 

much above the primary Object. 157 
Comparisons destitute of Dignity, transfer Insignificance to the 

principal Object ib. 
Comparisons are censurable when they prompt Feelings dis- 
cordant with the Aim of the principal Object, or when they 

suggest Sentiments painful or disagreeable 15S 
Comparisons should never be founded on Resemblances which 

are too obvious and familiar, nor on those which are imaginary ib. 
Extended Similes may be introduced with Advantage on vari- 
ous Occasions ' 159 
Improper Occasions on which circumstantial Similies make their 

Appearance 160 
Short Similes appear in the most passionate Scenes loi 
CHAPTER IV.— Personification 162 
Descriptive Personification ib. 
Passionate Personification 164 
The English Language possesses a singular Advantage in mark- 
ing Personification 166 
A capital Error in Personification, is to deck the Figure with 

fantastic and trifling Circumstances ib, 
Personifications should not be introduced when the Subject of 

Discussion is destitute of dignity 167 

CHAPTER V.— Allegory 1 68 

Allegory ornamental ]69 

Allegories communicate Instruction ib. 

Allegory of a moral Species 170 

The Allegory of Prodicus ib. 

The Tablature of Cebes 171 

Or 



XIV CONTEXT*. 

Pagtr 

Allegories calculated both for Ornament and Instruction- 171 
Homer personifies Prayers 172 
CHAPTER VI.— Apostrophe 174 
Picturesque Apostrophe ib. 
Apostrophes class the Offspring of deep Agitation 175 
A principal Error in the Use of Apostrophe, is to deck the Ob- 
ject addressed with affected Ornaments ib. 
Another frequent Error is, to extend this Figure to too great 

Length ib. 

Apostrophe frequently appeared in the Oratory of Antiquity 176 

Anostrophe in modern Oratory ib. 

CHAPTER VII.— Hvperbole , 177 

This Figure peculiarly graceful and pleasant 178 

All Discourse and Writing admit Hyperbole ib. 

Errors in the Use of Hyperbole 179 
Hyperboles are not properly introduced till the Mind of the 

Reader is prepared to relish them 180 
Hyperboles improper when they may be turned against the Ar- 
gument of the Author who uses them 181 
CHAPTER VIII.— Climax, or Amplification ib. 
The Effect of this Figure 182 
Climax appears with Grace in the calmer Parts of Oratory ib. 
It is consistent with moderate Agitation ib. 
CHAPTER IX.— The Antithesis 183 
Antithesis makes the most brilliant Appearance in the Delinea- 
tion of Characters, particularly in History 184 
Unsuccessful Attempts have been made to acquire it 185 
A Climax and Antithesis conjoined and carried on through sev- 
eral Sentences ib. 
CHAPTER X. — Interrogation, Repetition, Exclamation, Irony, 

and Vision 186 

Interrogation gives Life and Spirit to Discourse ib. 

Interrogation used to rouse and awaken the Hearers ib. 

Interrogation commands with great Emphasis 187 

Interrogation denotes plaintive Passion ib. 

Repetition is significant of Contrast and Energy ib. 

Exclamations the Effect of strong Emotions of the Mind ib. 

Vision proper onty in animated and warm Compositions 188 

Vision in Tragedy 189 

Irony ib. 

Exclamations and Ironvare sometimes united 190 



BOOK V. 



«.\ THE NATURE OF TASTE, AND THE SOURCES 05 ITS PLEAS- 
URES. 

CHAPTER I.— Taste 192 

Taste is possessed in different Degrees by different Men ib. 

Taste, an improvable Faculty, and refined by Education 193 



CONTEXTS. XV 

Page 



193 



194 



Exercise is the Source of Improvement in all our Faculties, m 
' our bodily, in our mental Powers, and even in our external 

Senses 
The Improvement of Taste, from the Application of Reason and 
good Sense, to Works of Composition, and Productions of 
Genius 
Delicacy and Correctness the Characters of Taste, when brought 

to its most improved State 195 
Correctness of Taste *"■ 
Delicacy and Correctness of Taste mutually imply each other H>. 
The Diversity of Tastes which prevails among Mankind 196 
Staudard of Taste 19 ? 
Uniformity of Taste and Sentiment resulting from our Convic- 
tion of a common Standard 199 
CHAPTER II —Criticism 200 
Transgressions of the Laws of Criticism 202 
CHAPTER III.— Of Genius ib. 
This Talent improved by Art and Study 203 
A Genius for any of the fine Arts always supposes Taste ib. 
CHAPTER IV.— The Sources of the Pleasures of Taste 204 
The Pleasures of Imagination ib. 
The Pleasure which arises from Sublimity or Grandeur 205 
Of external Grandeur ib. 
The terribly Sublime, Darkness, Solitude, and Silence 206 
The moral or sentimental Sublime 208 
High Virtue the most natural and fertile Source of this moral 

Sublimity ib. 

CHAPTER V.— The Sublime in Writing 209 
The sacred Scriptures afford us the highest Instances of the 

Sublime 210 
Homer .greatly admired for Sublimity 211 
The Works of Ossian abound with Examples of the Sublime ib, 
Conciseness and Simplicity essential to sublime Writing 212 
Milton an Author whose Genius led him eminently to the Sub- 
lime 213 
Strength is another necessary Requisite in sublime Writing 214 
The Sublime depends upon a just Selection of Circumstances 215 
The Faults opposite to the Sublime, are chiefly two ; first, the 

Frigid ; and, secondly, the Bombast 216 

CHAPTER VI— Beauty, and other Pleasures of Taste 217 

.Colour, the simplest Instance of Beauty 218 

Figure opens to us Forms of Beauty complex and diversified jb, 

Regularity a Source of Beauty jb. 

Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty 219 

Motion another Source of Beauty ' 0j 

The Beauty of the Human Countenance 221 
-Beauty arising from the Perception of Means being adapted to 

an End fo 
This Sense of Beauty, in Fitness and Design, has an extensive 

Influence over many of our Ideas 222 

Of Beauty, as it is applied to Writing or Discourse ib. 

Novelty 22.3 

Imitation is another Source ib. 



XVt CONTENTS 

Page 

The Pleasures of Melody and Harmony 223 

Wit, Humour, and Ridicule, open a Variety of Pleasures to 

Taste 224 

Wit ib. 

Humour ib-. 

Ridicule i& 



BOOK VI 



THE GENERAL CHARACTERS OF STYLE. 

CHAPTER I.— The Diffuse and Concise Styles 227 
A diffuse Style generally abounds in long Periods 230 
The Nervous and the Feeble of the same Import with the Con- 
cise and the Diffuse ib. 
CHAPTER II.— Of the Dry, Plain, Neat, and Flowery Style 232 
A drv Manner ib. 
A plain Style 233 
A neat Style ib 
An elegant Style % ib. 
A florid Stvle 234 
CHAPTER III.— The Simple, Affected, and Vehement Styles 235 
Simplicity of Composition ib. 
Simplicity of Thought ib. 
Simplicity opposed to Ornament or Pomp of Lang-uage 236 
Simplicity respecting (he easy and natural Manner in which our 

Language expresses our Thoughts ib. 

The highest Degree of this Simplicity 237 

Simplicity in general ib. 

Simplicity, the great Beauty of Archbishop Tillotson's Maimer ib. 
Sir William Temple, another remarkable Writer in the Stvle of 

Simplicity 238 

Addison the most perfect Example of this Style ib. 

An Author may write simply, and yet not beautifully 240 

Of the Vehement ib. 

Lord Bolingbroke's Stvle 241 

CHAPTER IV.— Directions for forming Style 242 
The Foundation of all good Style, is good Sense, accompanied 

with a lively Imagination ib. 
In order to form a good Style, the frequent Practice of Com- 
posing indispensably necessary ib. 
With respect to the Assistance that is to be gained from the 

Writings of others 244 

Danger of a servile Imitation of any Author ib. 
Style must be adapted to the Subject, and to the Capacity of 

one's Readers ib. 
CHAPTER V.— Conduct of a Discourse in all its Parts— Intro- 
duction, Division, Narration, and Explication 245 
The Exordium, or Introduction, common to all kinds of public 

Speaking 245 



Page 

Knat, to conciliate the good Will of the Hearers 246 

Secondly, to raise the Attention of the Hearers »b. 

The Introduction should be easy and natural 247 

Introductions should not be planned, till after one has meditated 

in his own mind the Substance of his Discourse ib. 

Correctness should be carefully studied irt the Expression ib. 

Modesty is another Character which it must carry ib. 

An Introduction should usually be carried on without Vehe- 
mence and Passion 248 

Introductions must not anticipate any material Part of the 

Subject ib > 

The Introduction ought to be proportioned, both in length, and 

in kind, to the Discourse that is to follow ib. 

The Proposition or Enunciation 'b. 

The Division 249 

First, the several Parts into which the Subject is divided must 

be really distinct from one another ! b> 

Secondly ,'in Division, we must take care to follow the Order of 

Nature ib. 

Thirdly, the several Members of a Division ought to exhaust 

the Subject ib. 

Fourthly, the Terms in which our Partitions are expressed 

should be as concise as possible ib>- 

Fifthiy, avoid an unnecessary Multiplication of Heads 230 

Narration, or Explication ib» 

To be clear and distinct, to be probable, and to be concise, are 

the Qualities which Critics chiefly require in Narration ib. 

Of the argumentative or reasoning Fart of a Discourse 251 

The analytic, and the synthetic Methods of Reasoning ib, 

Avoid blending Arguments confusedly together, that are of a 

separate Nature 252 

The three great Subjects of Discussion among Mankind, are, 

Truth, Duty, and Interest ib*. 

With regard to the different Degrees of Strength in Argu- 
ments, the general Rule is, to advance in the way of Climax 253- 

Observe not to extend Arguments too far, and multiply them 

too much ib, 

The Pathetic, in which, if any where, Eloquence reigns 254 

Consider carefully, whether the Subject admit the Pathetic, and 
render it proper, and if it does, what Part of the Discourse 

is the Attest for attempting it ib. 

Never to set apart a Head of a Discourse in form, for raising 

any Passion ib, 

The Difference between showing the Hearers that they ought 

to be moved, and actually moving them 255 

The only effectual Method is, to be moved yourself ib. 

Attention to the proper Language of the Passions ib. 

Avoid interweaving any Thing of a foreign Nature with the pa- 
thetic Part of a Discourse 256 

Never attempt prolonging the Pathetic too much ib. 

Concerning the Peroration, or Conclusion ib. 

CHAP'l ER VI.— Historical Writing 257 

Historical Composition comprehends Annals, Memoirs, Lives ib, 



XV111 6S0NTENT> 



Page 



In order to fulfil the End of History, the Author must study te 
trace to their Springs the Actions and Events which he re- 
cords 258 

The first Virtues of historical Narration, are Clearness, Order, 

and due Connection 259 

Gravity must always be maintained in the Narration ib. 

The Embellishment of Orations 260 

The drawing of Characters one of the most splendid, and at 
the same time, one of the most difficult Ornaments of histori- 
cal Composition ib. 

Sound Morality should always reign in History 261 

Memoirs ib. 

Biography 262 

Great Improvement of late Years introduced into historical 

Composition ib 

CHAPTER VII.— Philosophical Writing, Dialogue, and Epis- 
tolary Correspondence 263 

Epistolary Writing 264 



BOOK Vli. 



POETRY. 

CHAPTER I.— The Origin and Progress of Poetry 267 

CHAPTER II.— Versification 271 

Feet and Pauses the constituent Parts of Verse 272 

Of poetical Feet ib. 

The Nature of the Principal Feet 273 

Secondary Feet 277 

Blank Verse 279 

CHAPTER III.— Of Pastoral Poetry 280 

Theocritus and Virgil 281 

Pope's Pastorals . *b. 

Shenstone's Works 282 

The Amynta of Tasso 283 

Pastor Fido of Guaruii ib- 

The Gentle Shepherd of Allan Ramsay , ib. 

M. Gesner's Pastoral Compositions 284 

CHAPTER IV.— Lyric Poetry ib. 

The Odes of Pindar, Sappho, and Anacreon 285 
The English Lyric Poets, are Dryden, Pope, Addison, Gray, 

and Akenside ' ib. 

CHAPTER V.— Didactic Poetry 286 

The Essay on Man 288 

Satirists ib. 

€ rl APTER VI— Descriptive Poetry 290 

Thomson's Seasons ib. 

Milton's Allegro 291 

Penseroso ib. 

Parnel's Hermit 292 



CONTENTS. XIX 

CHAPTER VII.— Epic Poetry 2^3 

Episodes 296 

The Unity of the Epic Action 207 

Personages proper to the Poem 299 

Poetic Characters are general and particular ib. 

The Machinery of the Epic Poem 300 

CHAPTER V11I.— On Pronunciation, or Delivery 302 

Distinctness of Articulation ib. 

Emphasis, Pauses, Tones, and Gestures 303 

Emphatical Pauses 304 
Tones in Pronunciation consist in the Modulation of the Voice, 

and the Notes or Variations of Sound 305 

Of Gesture ib, 



A 

GRAMMAR OF RHETORIC 



OF LANGUAGE AND STYLE 
AS THE FOUNDATION OF ELOQUENCE. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE IN THE STRUC- 
TURE AND COMPOSITION OF WORDS. 

.. ' ANGUAGE may be denned, the art of communi- 
" I i eating thought, or the ideas of the mind, by certain 
articulate sounds, which are used as signs of those ideas. 

Illustration. Articulate sounds are those modulations of simple 
voice, or of sound emitted from the thorax, which are formed by means 
-of the mouth, and its several organs, the teeth, the tongue, the lips, and 
the palate. 

2. The connexion between words and ideas is arbitrary 
and conventional, owing to the agreement of men among 
themselves. 

Illus. Different nations have different languages, or a different set 
of articulate sounds, which they have chosen, or framed, for commu- 
nicating their ideas. 

3. When we consider written language as a symbol of 
spoken, and spoken language as a representation of our 
ideas, and observe also how little relation subsists between 
letters and sounds, and again between sounds and ideas, we 
shall be satisfied that much artifice and singular efforts of 
ingenuity were at first employed in the construction of lan- 
guage, that it might accomplish the purposes of communica- 
tion. 



£0 Of the Rise and Progress of Language 

Corollary. As speech must have been absolutely necessary previou? 
to the formation of society, the language of the first men, would be 
barely adequate to their present occasions } but they would enlarge 
and improve it as their future necessities required. 

4. The cries of passion, accompanied with such motions 
and gestures, as are further expressive of passion, are the 
only signs which nature teaches all men, and which ail 
understand. (Art. 30. and 31.) 

Illus. Cries indicative of fear, and gestures expressive of peril, would' 
be used by him who sought to warn his neighbour of danger. 

Corol. Those exclamations, therefore, which have obtained the name 
of interjections, uttered in a strong and passionate manner, were 7 
beyond doubt, in the rudest ages of the world, the first elements or 
beginnings of speech. IN ames began to be assigned to objects, when 
more enlarged communications became necessary. 

5. The invention of words arose from the imitation, as 
nearly as it could be carried, of the nature or quality of the 
object which was named, by the sound of the name which 
the object or its quality received. 

Illus. As a painter, who would represent grass, must employ a green 
colour ; so in the beginning of spoken language, the man who gave a 
name to any thing harsh or boisterous, would employ a harsh or bois- 
terous sound in the pronunciation of that name. He could not do 
otherwise, if he meant to excite in the hearer the idea of that thing, 
which he sought to name. (See Art. 16, 17, and 18.) 

Corol. The desire of men to paint, by speech, the objects which they 
named, in a manner more or less complete, according as the vocal 
organs had it in their power to effect this imitation, must have been 
the general motive which led men to the assignation of one name to a 
particular object rather than another. (See the Illustrations to Art. 7.) 

6. Whatever objects were to be named, in which sound, 
or noise, or motion, was concerned, the imitation by words 
was abundantly obvious. Nothing was more natural, than, 
by the sound of the voice, to imitate the quality of the 
sound, or noise, or motion, which the external object made : 
and to form its name accordingly. 

Illus. Thus, in all languages, we find words constructed upon this 
principle. A certain bird is called the cuckog from the sound which it 
emits. The analogy between the word and the thing signified is dis- 
cernable, when one sort of wind is said to whistle, and another to roar, 
when a serpent is said to hiss, a fly to buzz, and falling timber to crash, 
—when a stream is said to flow, thunder to roar, and hail to rattle. 

7. This analogy becomes more obscure in the names of 
objects which address the sight only, where neither noise 
nor motion is concerned, and still more in the terms appro- 
priated to moral ideas ; but even here it is not altogether 
lost ; and throughout the radical words of all languages some 



in the Structure und Composition of Words. 21 

degree of correspondence may be traced with the object 
signified. 

Illus. 1. The terms significant of moral and intellectual ideas, are 
derived from the names of sensible objects to which they are conceiv- 
ed to be analogous. 

2. The most distinguishing qualities of sensible objects, pertaining 
merely to sight, have, in a great variety of languages, certain radical 
sounds appropriated to the expression of those qualities. The organs 
of voice assume but an obscure resemblance to such external qualities 
as stability and fluidity, hollowness and smoothness, gentleness and vio- 
lence, yet are these words painted by the sound of certain letters or 
syllables, which have some relation to those different states of visible 
objects. 

3. Words formed upon si, usually denote firmness and strength, 
analogous to the Latin sto ; as, stand, stay, staff, slop, stout, steady, 
flake, stamp, stallion, stately, he. 

4. Sir, in the beginningof words, intimates violent force and energy, 
analagous to the Greek s-awvupt ; as, strive, strength, struggle, stride, 
stress, stretch, strike, stripe, he. 

5. Thr, implies forcible motion ; as, throw, thrust, throb, through, 
threaten, thraldom, he. 

6. Wr, denotes obliquity or distortion ; as, wry, wrest, wrestle, 
vjrealh, ivring, wrong, wrangle, wrath, icrack, he. 

7. Sw, indicates silent agitation, or lateral motion ; as, sway, swing, 
swerve, sweep, swim, he. 

8. SI, implies a gentle fall, or less observable motion ; as, slide, slip, 
sly, slit, slow, slack, sling, he. 

9. Sp, intimates dissipation or expansion ; as, spread, sprout, sprin- 
kle, split, spill, spring, he. 

10. Terminations in ash indicate something acting nimbly and 
sharply ; as, crash, gash, rash, flash, lash, slash, he. 

11. Ush, in the ending of words, implies something acting more ob- 
tusely or dully ; as, crush, brush, hush, gush, blush, he* 

Observation. These significant roots have been considered as a pe- 
culiar beauty or excellency of our native tongue, which, beyond all 
others, expresses the nature or qualities of the objects that it names, 
by employing sounds sharper, softer, weaker, stronger, more obscure , 
or more stridulous, according as the idea requires which is to be sug- 
gested. 

8. The immense field of language, in every nation, is, 
however, filled up by numerous fanciful and irregular 
methods of derivation and composition. 

Corol. Words, therefore, come to deviate widely from the primitive 
character of their roots, and frequently lose all analogy or resemblance 
in sound to the thing signified. Taken generally, as we now employ 
them, words may be considered as symbols, not as imitations ; as arbi- 
trary, or instituted, not natural signs of. ideas. 

* The President Des Brosses has very ably examined this subject in his work", en- 
titled " Trajte de la Formation Meehaiiique des Langues." 



22 Of the Rise and Progress of Language 



CHAPTER II. 

OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE IN THE MANNER 
OF UTTERING OR PRONOUNCING WORDS. 

9. A SECOND character of language, in its early state, 
is drawn from the manner in which mankind at first pro- 
nounced or uttered words. 

Illus. 1. Interjections or passionate language being the first ele- 
ments of speech, (Corol. Art. 4.) men would labour to communicate 
their feelings to one another, by those expressive cries and gestures, 
which they were taught by nature. (Art. 4. Illus.) 

2. Language in its infancy, picturesque but barren, would be inter- 
mixed with many exclamations and earnest gestures. Its scanty vo- 
cabulary rendered these helps necessary for explaining the concep- 
tions of uncultivated men. 

3. Tones, rough and unmusical at first, and significant gesticulations 
would supply the temporary absence of the few words which men 
knew ; and by these supplemental methods they would endeavour to 
make intelligible to others what they themselves understood. (Art. 
46. Corol.) 

Corol. It may hence be assumed as a principle, that pronunciation, 
?n the earliest languages, though learnt from the uninterrupted use of 
gutteral sounds, was accompanied with more gesticulations than are 
used when men become refined by civilization, arts, and sciences. 

10. What had risen from necessity continued to be used 
for ornament, after language became more extensive and 
copious. Wherever there was much fire and vivacity in 
the genius of nations, the imagination was gratified with a 
great deal of action ; and, as their ear acquired delicacy 
and sensibility, their language would gradually attain soft- 
ness and melody of tones in conversation, or public dis- 
course. 

Illus. Upon this principle men spoke by action. Jeremiah, in sight 
of the people of Israel, breaks a potter's vessel — throws a book into 
the Euphrates — puts on bonds and yokes, and carries out his house- 
hold stuff. The Indians of North America, also, declare their meaning, 
and explain themselves by belts and strings of vjampum, as much as 
by their discourse, with all its significant but flowery modes of expres- 
sion. (Illus. Art. 18.) 

11. Some nations have found it easier to express differ- 
ent ideas, by varying the tone with which they pronounced 
the same word, than to contrive words for all their ideas. 

Illus. Thus, the number of original words in the Chinese language 
is not great, but, in speech, the sound of each word is varied on no 
fewer than five different tones. The same word may therefore signify 
five different things ; and be expressed by five different characters- 



in the Manner of Pronouncing Words. 23 

Hence arises their unwieldly alphabet, or lexicon. This melody, or 
varying the sound of each word so often, is a proof of nothing, how- 
ever, but of the fine ear of that people. (Corol. Art. 13.) 

12. When the harsh and dissonant cries of speech have 
become gradually polished, they pass into more smooth and 
harmonious sounds (Art. 10.) ; and hence is formed what 
grammarians call the prosody of a language. 

Obs. Without attending to this we shall be at a loss to Understand 
several parts of the Greek and Roman classics, which relate to public 
speaking, and the theatrical entertainments of the ancients. (Illus, 
Art. 13.) 

13. When the Greek and Roman languages became flow- 
ing and harmonious, the pronunciation of both became melo- 
dious in a very high degree. It does not, however, appear 

-that the languages of any cultivated nations have ever been 
regulated by any musical principles. As the copiousness 
and accuracy of speech keep pace with civilization and im- 
provement, its melody corresponds to the refinement of the 
public ear. (Illus. Mrt. 11.) 

Hlus. 1. The declamation of the Greek and Roman orators, and the 
pronunciation of their actors upon the stage, were not indeed subject- 
ed to a geometrical scale of proportion, as the notes of music are ; but 
the melody of their periods was artfully regulated by the superior re- 
finement of their ear. 

2. The sounds of speech and music are regulated by different scaler 
both in point of length and elevation. In point of length, the sounds 
of speech are only two, the one double the other ; for all words con- 
sist of syllables either long or short, and the long syllable is invariably 
double the length of the short one. The sounds of music being meas 
uced by a geometrical scale of proportion, may be extended as far as 
the composer pleases. In respect of elevation and depression the 
sounds of speech arc subject to no rule : their distances are neither 
equal nor great. The speaker may divide them according to his in- 
clioation, and the utmost compass of ordinary speech seldom extends 
beyond the distance of a few notes in music. It is not so with the tones 
of music : their distances are all determined by rule, and the elevations 
and depressions, though sometimes very considerable, are adjusted 
with the greatest nicety of geometrical science. 

3. Aristotle considers the music of tragedy as one of its chief and 
essential parts ; but lie does not assuredly mean that the Greeks spoke 
in recitative, or that part of the word, or part of the sentence, was ut- 
tered in the ordinary, tones of conversation, while the remaining part 
was pronounced in tones of music. The whole of an oration, or tra- 
gedy, might be accompanied with musical instruments ; but the lan- 
guage of passion is inconsistent with recitative, The tones of music 
are not the language of passion, and the language of nature is the same 
in all ages and countries. (Art. 10. Illus. and also Art. 11.) 

4. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in his book on composition, that 
treats professedly on the melody of language, is at great pains to illus- 
trate his sentiments from the compositions of Demosthenes, and t«* 

3 ; < 



9A Of the JRise and Progress of Language 

point out how artfully that great orator had consulted the melody oi 
his periods, by inserting in his cadences many dactyles, spondees, 
iambics, and other agreeable metrical feet. The introduction of these 
feet he calls — " writing rhythmical," or " melodious prose." 

5. It is plain also from the oratory of Cicero, that the Romans did 
not speak in tones of music, or recitative. He informs us that nume- 
rus or rhythm was not employed except in the most splendid parts of 
an oration ; and that it ought not to be long continued, lest the artifice 
of the orator should be detected, and his aim to impress his hearers 
defeated. 

6. Dionysius, however, proceeds further than Cicero, and contrasts 
the harmonious examples extracted from Demosthenes, with speci- 
mens adduced from the writings of Polybius, " the harshness of whose 
periods," he asserts, " is owing to the neglect of rhythm." 

Corol. 1. Therefore, the melody of a language is a proof of nothing 
but of the fine ear of the people who use it, (Mm. Art. 11.) ; other 
evidence is necessary to shew that it was spoken in what the Italians 
call recitativo. 

2. The '•gvQuis then, of the Greeks, and the numerm of the Romans, 
expressed nothing that is now either unintelligible or unknown, and 
afford no evidence that the ancients either spoke commonly in recita- 
tive, or intermixed notes of music with the tones of speech. 

3. And, hence, the modern languages of Europe, abounding with 
long and short syllables, are susceptible of rhythm, as well as the 
Greek and Latin ; and the assemblages of these long and short sylla- 
bles, in what the ancients called feet, are not confined to the poetry of 
our native Isles, but are actually introduced by our best prose writers. 
Yet no one expects to hear the plays of Shakspeare sung, and we did 
not hear Pitt and Sheridan speak in recitative. 

14. Strong tones, and animated gestures, go always to- 
gether ; hence, action is treated by all the ancient critics, as 
the chief quality in every public speaker. 

Mas. 1. We learn from Cicero, that it was a contest between him 
and Roscius, whether he could express a sentiment in a greater variety 
of phrases, or Roscius in a greater variety of intelligible and significant 
gestures. 

2. When gesture came to engross the Roman stage wholly, the fa- 
vorite entertainment of the public was pantomime, which was carried 
on, as it still is, entirely by mute gesticulation. Under the reigns of 
Augustus and Tiberius, the people were moved and wept at it, as much 
as at tragedies. 

Corol. All speculations concerning the fixing of a living language 
are, therefore, vain and nugatory, and when the good taste of a nation 
has prevailed universally, writers of established reputation become its 
authorities, 



in the Style and Character of Speech. 25 



CHAPTER III. 

OF THE PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE IN THE STYLE AND CHAR 
ACTER OF SPEECH. 

15. FROM what has been said in the preceding chapters, 
it appears that men at first uttered their words, and main- 
tained conversation, in a strong and impressive manner, en- 
forcing their imperfectly conceived ideas by cries and ges- 
tures ; and there is abundant evidence to shew that the lan- 
guage which they used was little else than a torrent of fig- 
ures and metaphors, not correct indeed, but forcible and 
picturesque. (Art. 19. Illus.) 

Corol. Figures of speech are, therefore, not the Invention of orators 
<md rhetoricians ; but the language of mankind, when they had hardly 
any words for expressing their meaning. 

16. The want of a distinct name for every individual ob- 
ject, obliged the first speakers to use one name for many 
objects. (Art. 5. Illus. and Corol.) 

Corol. They would, thence, express themselves by comparisons, 
metaphors, allusions, and all those substituted forms of speech, which 
render language figurative and picturesque. 

17. As the names with which they were most conversant, 
were those of the sensible, material objects around them, 
names would be given to those objects long before words 
were invented for signifying the dispositions of the mind, or 
any sort of moral or intellectual ideas. (Art. 48.) 

Corol. Hence, the early language of man being entirely made up of 
words descriptive of sensible objects, it became, of necessity, extreme- 
ly metaphorical. Every desire or passion, every act or feeling of mind 
to which no precise expression had been appropriated, would be paint- 
ed by allusion to those sensible objects which had most relation to it 
and which, in some manner, could render it visible to others. (Art. 10.) 

18. In the infancy of society, men are much under the 
dominion of imagination and passion ; and these are the pa- 
rents of a figurative style, of exaggeration and hyperbole. 
(Art. 19. Illus. 1. and 3.j 

Illus. In this period of society, men live scattered and dispersed**. 
They are unacquainted with the course of things ; they are daily meet- 
ing with new and strange objects. Fear and surprise, wonder and 
astonishment, are their most frequent passions. Their language par- 
takes of this character of their agitated and expanding minds. They 
will be prone to exaggeration and hyperbole. Where all is marvellous, 
the imagination will riot in the luxuriance of an unbounded picturesquev 
(Art. 10. Illus.) 



2o Of the Progress of Language 

Carol. Wherever strong exclamations, tones and gestures, enter 
much into conversation, the imagination is always more exercised; a 
greater effort of fancy and passion is excited. Consequently, the fan- 
cy kept awake, and rendered more sprightly by this mode of utterance, 
operates upon style, and enlivens it with the strongest colours, and 
the most vehement expressions of untamed passion. (Art. 15. Corol.) 

19. Undoubted facts confirm these reasonings. The 
style of all the earliest languages, among nations who are 
in the first and rude periods of society, is found, without 
exception, to be full of figures ; and to be hyperbolical and 
picturesque in a high degree. (Art. 5. and \Q.) 

Illus. 1. The American Indian languages are known to be figura- 
tive to excess. The Iroquois and Illinois carry on their treaties and 
public transactions with bolder metaphors, and greater pomp of style, 
than we use in our poetical productions." 

2. In the Old Testament, — the best specimen of oriental style, — 
constant allusions to sensible objects characterize the language of the 
various writers. Thus, guilt is a spotted garment ; iniquity is the trea- 
sures of darkness ; a sinful life is a crooked path ; misery drinks the cup 
■of astonishment ; vain pursuits are seen feeding on ashes; innocence is 
known by its white robes; wisdom is a lighted candle ; and royal dig- 
nity is purple and a crown. 

3. In the poems of Ossian, too, figures of speech abound; pictur- 
esque descriptions are as the " sons of song," for number ; or as the 
heroes' "breasts of steel," for strength of expression; or as the 
<; meteors of death," for the illusions they create in a reader's mind; 
and all the violent expressions of passion uttered about " the white- 
bosomed love of Cormac;" or about Fingal " of the noble deeds;" 
him who " flew like lightning over the heath;" or " slowly moved as 
a cloud of thunder, when the sultry plain of summer is silent," whose 
" sword is before him terrible as the streaming meteor of night — " 
confirm the position, that this sort of style is common to all nations in 
certain periods of society and language. A narration is condensed' 
into a few striking circumstances, which rouse and alarm: the ac- 
count of a battle is as rapid as the wounds of a warrior, and the 
deaths he inflicts! 

20. Magnanimity and delicacy characterize strongly the 
poetry of rude nations, who, in the use of metaphors and 
similes, make little or no allusion to the productions of the 
arts. (Art. 29. Illus.) 

Illus. Magnanimity and delicacy are nearly, if not necessarily, con- 
nected with all the strong and violent emotions of the mind ; and these 
are the natural produce of an early, if not of a savage state of society. 
Strong emotions constitute the chief ingredient in magnanimity ; and 
it requires only one addition to give them the polish of delicacy. 

Corol. It is not improbable, that particular circumstances may 
prompt the latter sentiment, long before the introduction either of 
philosophy or of the arts. Those who are acquainted with human 
nature, and the analogy which subsists among its feelings, will there 

* See CacSwallatfer Colden's " History of the Five Indian Nations." 



in the Arrangement of Words in Sentences. 27 

tore allow the uncommon magnanimity and delicacy of Ossian, "king 
«f songs," to be no strong objections against tne antiquity of his pro- 
ductions. 

21. From what has been said, it plainly appears that the 
style of all languages must have been originally poetical ; 
strongly tinctured with that enthusiasm, that descriptive 
metaphorical expression, and that magnanimity and delica- 
cy, which distinguish poetry. (Art. 30. Illus.) 

Obs. But these points will be further discussed when we come to 
treat " of the nature and origin of poetry." 

22. As language, in its progress, began to grow more co- 
pious, it gradually lost that figurative style, which was its 
early character. (Art. 31. and 32.^ 

Illus. Proper and familiar names for every object, both sensible 
and moral, pushed out of discourse the use of circumlocutions. Style 
became more precise, and, of course, more simple, in proportion as. 
society advanced in civilization, and reason subdued the imagination 
of mankind. The exercise of the understanding now rarely permit- 
ted that of the fancy ; and frequent and extensive intercourse among 
mankind obliged them to signify their meaning to each other by clear- 
ness of style. In place of poets, philosophers became the instructors 
of men : and in their reasonings on all different subjects, introduced 
that plainer and simpler style of composition, which, at this day, we 
call Prose, 



CHAPTER IV. 

OF THE PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE, AS RESPECTS THE ORDER 
AND ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS IN SENTENCES. 

23. THE imagination and the understanding are the 
powers of the mind which chiefly influence the arrange- 
ment of words in sentences. The grammatical order is 
dictated by the understanding; the inverted order results 
from the prevalence of the imagination. ( See the theory of 
Arrangement, Art. 24.) 

Illus. 1. In the grammatical order of words, it is required that the 
agent or nominative shall first make its appearance ; the agent is fol- 
lowed by the action or the verb; and the verb is succeeded by the 
subject or accusative, termed, in English Grammars, the objective 
case, on which the action is exerted. In this logical order, an Eng- 
lish writer, paying a compliment to a great man, would say: " It is 
impossible for me to pass over in silence such remarkable mildness, 
such singular and unheard of clemency, and such unusual moderation, 
in the exercise of supreme power." Here we have first presented to 
W.s the person who speaks, " It is impossible for me;" next, what that 



23 Of the Progress of Language 

person is to do, " impossible for him to pass over in silence ;*' an*!, 
lastly, the object which moves him to do so, " the mildness, clemency, 
and moderation of a man in the exercise of supreme power." 

2. The inverted order is prompted by the imagination, a keen and 
sprightly faculty, which attaches itself strongly to its objects, and to 
those the most that affect it most forcibly. A sentence constructed 
according to this faculty, presents the subject or accusative, first, the 
agent or recipient next, and the action or verb last. The order of 
the Latin language gratifies the rapidity of the imagination ; and ac- 
cordingly, Cicero, from whom we have translated the words in the 
former illustration, follows the natural order : " Tantam mansuetu- 
dinem, tarn inusitatem inauditamque clementiam, tantumque in sum- 
ma potestate rerum omnium modum, tacitus nullo modo praterire 
possum."* The object, that which was the exciting idea in the speak- 
er's mind, is placed first, and the sentence concludes with the speak- 
er and his action. 

3. The other parts of speech, consisting of adjectives, adverbs, 
conjunctions, and prepositions, are, in both these modes of arrange- 
ment, intermixed with these capital parts, and are associated with 
them respectively, according as they are necessary to restrict or ex- 
plain them. 

24. From these illustrations, the following simple and 
natural theory results, relative to the arrangement of words 
in sentences, unless their order be disturbed by considera- 
tions respecting melody and cadence, of which we shall 
hereafter take notice; — that in all periods of society, and in 
all countries in which men are guided more by the influ- 
ence of imagination, than by the cool dictates of reason, 
language adopts an inverted order or arrangement ; but that 
inversion is diminished in proportion as imagination sub- 
sides, and reason gains the ascendant ; and that among peo- 
ple addicted to research and philosophical investigation, it 
in a great measure disappears. (Art. 30. Illus.) 

Obs. We have seen that the arrangement in a Latin sentence is the 
more animated ; the English construction is more clear and distinct. 
The Romans generally arranged their words according to the order 
in which the ideas rose in the imagination ; we marshal them accor- 
ding to the order in which the understanding directs those ideas to be 
exhibited, in succession, to the view of another. 

Corol. Our arrangement, therefore, appears to be the consequence 
of greater refinement in the art of speech ; as far as clearness in com> 
munication is understood to be the end of speech. 

25. In the early periods of society, and even in the early 
part of life, we observe the mind disposed to inversion ; be- 
cause in these times the imagination is more vivid and ac- 
tive, and the powers of reason are more languid and inef= 
fectual. (Art. 30.; 

* ©rat. pro Marcell. 



in the Arrangement of Words in Sentences. 29 

lllus. If a person of a warm imagination, a savage or a child, be- 
held an object, suppose any kind of fruit, as an acorn, which he was 
anxious to possess, and to obtain it, he were to express himself in the 
order prompted by the immediate feelings of his mind ; the first thing 
that would excite his attention, and which, consequently, he would 
first name, is the acorn ; himself, who was to enjoy the fruit, would 
next engage his attention; and the action — that which was to gratify 
his wishes — would finally attract his consideration. His arrangement 
would therefore be that, which, in similar cases, is authorized by the 
sprightly languages of Greece and Rome, " (Zakavov y.01 <foc," " Glan- 
dem mihi praebe j" not that which the more phlegmatic and philo- 
sophical tongues of modern Europe would require, and which the 
strict grammatical order of our own language demands — " Give me 
the acorn ;" or '•' Give the acorn to me." 

26. Though the vivacity of the genius of the Greeks and 
Romans, might incline them to prefer the poetical and in- 
verted arrangement of their words, they owed, to the struc- 
ture of their languages, the possibility of indulging this dis- 
position. 

Illus. The numerous inflections of their declinable parts of speech; 
the correspondence, for example, between the verb and its nominative, 
so obviously pointed out by the terminations of the former, as to su- 
persede, inmost cases, the necessity, and even the propriety, of using 
the latter; the palpable relation between the adjective and the sub- 
stantive, indicated by the invariable agreement of the former with 
the latter, in gender, number, and case ; the various cases of their 
substantives, which, on many occasions, supplied the place of prepo- 
sitions ; — all contributed to leave the Greeks and Romans at liberty 
to gratify their feelings, or to consult the melody of their periods, by 
ihe arrangement of their words in sentences, without incurring the 
risk of diminishing the perspicuity of their compositions. 

27. The inflections of the modern languages are few, and 
preclude the arrangement which the tongues of antiquity 
found so much to the gratification of the imagination and of 
the ear. And hence the first rule of good writing or speak- 
ing, is, to preserve perspicuity, which on no account can be 
sacrificed to any secondary consideration. 

Obs. This indispensable law demands, that the arrangement of 
modern languages, should proceed nearly in the grammatical order ; 
because juxta-position is almost the only means by which they can 
intimate the mutual relation of the several words in a sentence to one 
another. 

28. All the cultivated modern languages, — the French, 
the Italian, the Spanish, the German, and the English,— are 
extremely circumscribed in point of inflection; but the 
English more than any of the rest. There is not, perhaps, 
to be found in any age, a polished language of greater sim- 
plicity, the Hebrew itself not excepted. 



30 Of the Progress of Language 

Ilhis. We have no genders but those of nature, the male and the 
female; our substantives have no more cases than two; and only a 
few of our pronouns have three : our adjectives have neither gentler, 
nor number, nor case ; and all the inflections of our verbs, do not per- 
haps exceed half a dozen . 

Obs. In point of precision and accuracy, our own language, in the 
hands of a writer of genius, appears to be superior to the Latin and 
equnl to the Greek. The great end of language is to communicate 
thought witli ease and expedition, for the improvement and happiness 
of human life ; and, considering the importance of this communica- 
tion, the language which is least liable to equivocation, is a most val- 
uable acquisition. For the purposes of business, and the researches 
of philosophy, our own language merits every praise; and though in- 
ferior to the language of Greece and Rome, in works addressed to the 
imagination and the heart, it yields to neither of them, nor to any 
modern language, in its qualifications to do justice to the most sub- 
lime conceptions on the capital subjects of genius. 

29. The prevalence of imagination and passion in the 
early stages of society, accounts also, satisfactorily, for the 
poetical inversions of style, which are found in these peri- 
ods, and, of course, for the priority of poetry to prose com- 
positions. (Art. 21. and 22. ) 

Illus. The attachment of love, gratitude to a deliverer, or to the 
gods, with whom the creed of infant society replenished the skies, ad- 
miration of the works of nature, in the splendour of summer, or the 
grandeur of winter, in the beauties of spring, or the abundance of au- 
tumn, would early prompt the sentiments and language of poetry. 
The invention of versification would quickly follow the possession of 
poetical ideas ; and its apparent ingenuity would contribute to its 
recommendation. Though it is a more artificial mode of expression 
than prose, yet it is not to be doubted that it was first introduced ; and 
the history of Homer's compositions, or the Poems of Ossian, induce a 
belief, that it preceded even writing. (Art. 23. Illus. 1. and 3. also 
drl. 33.) 

SO. Though poetry is the more artificial mode of compo- 
sition, it is not perhaps the more difficult. Composition in 
prose could not be well executed, till writing was invent- 
ed ; and writing is a modern invention, in comparison of 
speaking. The appearance of good prose, is therefore pos- 
terior to that of good poetry ; and excellence in the former, 
is among the latest attainments of polished nations. Good 
poetry is perfectly consistent with no high degree of pre- 
cision of thought, or accuracy of expression. (Art. 20. Cor.) 

Illus. The period most favourable for poetical exertions, is situated 
between the decline of the general influence of the powers of imagina- 
tion on society, and the general cultivation of the faculty of reason, by 
science and philosophy ; it is then that the poet has the best chance of 
possessing the greatest compoand quality of the powers of imagina- 



Of the Origin and Progress of Writing. 51 

lion ami judgment he can ever attain. Such, it seems, were the pe- 
riods which produced Homer, Virgil, and Milton. (Art. 22. Illus.) 

CONCLUSION. 

31. From what has been said in the preceding chapters, 
a foundation has been laid for many observations, both cu- 
rious and useful. It appears, that language was, at first, 
barren in words, but descriptive by the sound of those 
words ; and expressive in the manner of uttering them, by 
the aid of significant tones and gestures. Style was figu- 
rative and poetical ; arrangement was fanciful and lively. 
In all the successive changes which language has under- 
gone, as the world advanced, the understanding has gained 
ground on the fancy and imagination. The progress of 
language in this respect, resembles the progress of age in 
man. The imagination is most vigorous and predominant 
in youth ; with advancing years, the imagination cools, and 
the understanding ripens. 

32. Thus language, proceeding from sterility to copious- 
ness, hath, at the same time, proceeded from vivacity to ac- 
curacy; from the fire of poetical enthusiasm, to the cool- 
ness of philosophical precision. Those characters of early 
language, descriptive sound, vehement tones and gestures, 
figurative style, and inverted arrangement, all hang togeth- 
er, have a mutual relation on each other; and have all 
gradually given place to arbitrary sounds, calm pronuncia- 
tion, simple style, plain arrangement. Language is be- 
come, in modern times, more correct indeed, and accurate; 
but less striking and animated : in its ancient state, more 
favourable to poetry and oratory; in its present, more 
adapted to reason and philosophy, 



CHAPTER V. 

OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF WRITING* 

33. NEXT to speech, writing is, beyond doubt, the 
most useful art which men possess. It is plainly an im- 
provement upon spoken language, and therefore must have 
been posterior to it in order of time. 

Illus, At first, men thought of nothing more than communicating 
their thoughts to one another, when present, by means of words, or 
sounds, which they uttered. Afterwards, thev* devised, by means of 

4 



32 Of the Progress of Writing. 

marks or characters, presented to the eye, and which we call writing , 
this further method, when absent, of mutual communication one with 
another 

54. Written characters are of two sorts : they are either 
signs for things, or signs for words. The pictures, hiero- 
glyphics, and symbols, employed by the ancient nations, are 
signs of things, and belong to the former class; the alpha- 
betical characters, now employed by all Europeans, are 
signs/or words, and belong to the latter class. 

Illus. Pictures were, undoubtedly, the first essay toward writing - , 
Imitation is natural to man ; children copy or trace the likeness of 
sensible objects, before they can signify the names of those objects 
by written characters. The savage, to intimate that his father had 
vanquished an enemy, would draw the figure of one man stretched 
upon the earth, and of another standing over him with a deadly weap- 
on in his hand. When the Mexicans sent intelligence to Montezuma, 
their prince, of the arrival of the Spaniards in the bay of Cam peachy, 
they scratched pictures of the men, horses, and artillery, that they 
had seen, and conveved these to their monarch. The chieftain un- 
derstood them, and immediately dispatched an embassy to meet the 
Spanish commander. 

Obs. Historical pictures are, however, but extremely imperfect 
records of important transactions. They do, indeed, delineate exter- 
nal events; but they cannot transmit their memory through a long 
succession of ages; and they fail entirely to exhibit such qualities as 
are most visible to the eye, or to convey, by description, any idea of 
the dispositions or words of men. 

35. This rude attempt towards writing, was, in process 
of time, improved by the invention of what are called hie- 
roglyphical characters. These may be considered as the 
second stage in the art of writing, as they represented in- 
tellectual conceptions, or those not suggested by any exter- 
nal or visible objects. The analogy or resemblance which 
such symbols were supposed to bear to the objects, was. 
conventional, but liable to forced and ambiguous allusions. 

Jllus. Thus an eye was the hieroglyphical symbol of knowledge; a 
circle, of eternity, which has neither beginning nor end ; ingratitude 
was denominated by a riper; imprudence, by a fly ; wisdom, by an 
ant ; victory, by a hawk ; a dutiful child, by a stork; and a wretch — a 
man universally shunned — by an eel, which is not to be found in com- 
pany with other fishes. 

Corol. But these properties of objects were merely imaginary : and 
the conjunction, or compounding of the characters, rendered them 
obscure, and expressed indistinctly the connections and relations of 
tiie objects which they represented'! Hence, this species of writing- 
could be no other than enigmatical, and confused in the highest de- 
gree ; and must have been a very imperfect vehicle of knowledge of 
any kind. 

Obs. There is no reason however to suppose that the priests of 



Of the Invention of an Alphabet* 53 

ligypt, among- whom hieroglyphical characters were first found, and 
who were also the instructors of their countrymen, introduced and 
employed them for the purpose of concealing- their knowledge from 
the vulgar. TIvj latter are little troublesome about the acquisition of 
useful knowledge in any state of society ; and the former were too 
enlightened not to know, that one of the principal pleasures and hon- 
ours attending the possession of knowledge, is to instruct others. 

36. As writing advanced, from pictures of visible objects., 
to hieroglyphics, or symbols of things invisible ; from these 
latter it advanced, among some nations, to simple arbitrary 
marks, which stood for objects, but without any resemblance 
or analogy to the objects signified. 

Illus. 1. Of this nature, was the method of writing practised among 
the Peruvians. They made use of small cords of different colors ; and 
upon these, by means of knots of various sizes, and differently ranged, 
they contrived signs for giving information, and communicating their 
fhoughts to one another; but this invention afforded less security 
against frequent and gross mistakes, than the hieroglyphic archetypes 
of abstract ideas. (Corol. Art. 35.^ 

2. The use of hieroglyphical characters still exists in China, where 
they have been brought to greater perfection than in any other quar- 
ter of the globe. But every idea is expressed by a separate character. 
The characters, it is said, amount to upwards of 70,000. An acquaint- 
ance with the means of communicating knowledge, is, therefore, the 
business of a whole life, and must greatly retard the progress of all 
science. In short, science in China is always in a state of infancy. 

3. Our arithmetical figures, which we have derived from the Ara- 
bians, are significant marks, precisely of the same nature with the 
Chinese characters. They have no dependence on words ; but each 
figure denotes an object; denotes the number for which it stand3. 
(Illus. 5J 

4. The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the Corseans, speak different 
languages from one another, and from the inhabitants of China, but 
use, with these last people, the same written characters; a proof that 
the Chinese characters are like hieroglyphics, independent of lan- 
guage. 

5. In like manner the Italians, French, Spaniards, and English,, 
speak different languages, but the Arabic characters 1, 2, 3, 4, &x\ 
are, on being presented to the eye, equally understood by those four 
nations, as signs of things, not of words. Thus, 4 may be foufships, 
four men, four trees, four years; in short, four things. (Illus. 3.) 

37. A combination of sounds forms, in various ways, all 
the variety of words in spoken language. These sounds 
are few, and are continually recurring for repetition in dis- 
course. They would lead to the invention of an alphabet 
of syllables. A sign, or mark, for each of these syllables, 
would form an alphabet of letters. The number of these 
marks, or characters, would be equal to the number of sounds 
or syllables. These sounds reduced to their simple ele 
ments of a few vowels and consonants, indicated by a par- 



34 ;7%e most indent Methods of Writing. 

ticular sign to each, would form what we now call lettejpp: 
Some happy genius taught men how, by the combinations 
of these letters, to put in writing all the different words, oy 
associations of sound, which were employed in speech. 

Obs. Such seem to have been the introductory steps to the art of 
writing; but the darkness of remote antiquity has concealed the great 
inventor's name of this sublime and refined discovery, and deprived 
him of those honours which, were it known, would still be paid to his 
memory, by all the lovers of knowledge and learning. 

38. The universal tradition among the ancients is, that 
letters were first imported into Greece by Cadmus, the Phoe- 
nician, at least 3000 years ago; and from Greece dispersed 
over the western part of the world. The alphabet of Cad- 
mus consisted only of sixteen letters, but it comprehended 
all the original sounds, which are said to be only thirteen^ 
The remaining letters were afterwards added, according as 
signs for proper sounds were said to be wanting. 

Illus. The Roman alphabet, which obtains with us, and with most 
of the European nations, is, with a few variations, evidently formed 
on that of the Greeks. And all learned men observe, that the Greek 
characters especially, according to the manner in which they are 
formed in the oldest inscriptions, have a remarkable conformity to 
the Hebrew or Samaritan characters, which, it is agreed, are the same 
with the Phoenician for Alphabet of Cadmus. 

39. The most ancient method of writing seems to have 
been in lines running from right to left. This method is- 
still retained in the Hebrew language. 

Obs. The Greeks improved upon this method, and wrote in lines 
alternately from the right to the left, which was called Boustrophedon ; 
or writing after the manner in which oxen plough the ground. About 
the time of Solon, the Athenian legislator, the custom is said to have 
been introduced, and which still prevsils, of writing in lines from left 
to right. 

40. The writing of antiquity was a species of engraving. 
Pillars, and tables of stone, were first employed for this 
purpose, and afterwards, plates of the softer metals, such as 
lead ; or tables of wax and skins of parchment. A polish- 
ed point of iron called a stilus was used to scratch letters 
on the wax ; but the writing on parchment was performed 
with pen and ink. (Art. 41. Illus. 1. and 2.) 

Obs. 1. On the parchment were written books and records, and 
every kind of composition which its author wished to preserve ; on 
the tablets of wax temporary matters of business, and epistles that 
were not designed for the inspection of a third person's eyes. The 
writing on parchment was the most expensive, but the most perma- 
nent; that on wax, the cheapest and readiest, but the least durables 
(Tllus.l.drtAl.) 



Comparison of spoken with written language. So 

2. Our present method of writing on paper, is an invention of no 
higher antiquity than the 14th century : and the invention of printing 
was reserved for an obscure monk in the beginning of the loth. This 
inventor might probably receive a hinttoward this invention,4rom the 
Roman practice of carving letters on boards of wood, and of employ- 
ing them to abridge the trouble of writing', by stamping names and 
inscriptions on parchment and wax. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A COMPARISON , 

OF SPOKEN WITH WRITTEN LANGUAGE : OR, 

Of Words uttered in bur hearing, ivith Words represented 
# to the eye. 

41. THE advantages of writing above speech are, that 
writing is both a more extensive, and a more permanent 
method of communicating our thoughts to mankind. 

Illus. k More extensive, as it is not confined within the narrow cir- 
cle of those who hear our words; but, by means of written characters, 
we can send our thoughts abroad, and propagate them through the 
world; we can thus lift our voice, so as to speak to those to whom, 
in our own country, we may not have access, and to men of the most 
distant regions oi" the earth, (Obs. 1. Art. 40. J 

2. More permanent also, as it prolongs the voice to the most distant 
ages ; and gives us the means of recording our sentiments to futurity, 
and of perpetuating the instructive memory of past transactions 
■(Obs. -2.Jrt.40.) 

3. It likewise affords this advantage to such as read, above such as 
hear, that having the written characters before their eves, they can 
arrest the sense of the writer ; they can pause and resolve, and com- 
pare at their leisure, one passage with another; whereas the voice is 
fugitive in passing; you must catch the words the moment they are 
uttered, or you lose them for ever. 

42. But although these be so great advantages of writ- 
ten language, that speech, without writing, would have: 
been very inadequate for the instruction of mankind: yet 
we must not forget to observe, that spoken language has a 
great superiority over written language, in point of energy 
and force. 

Illns. 1. The voice of the living speaker makes an impression on the 
mind, much stronger than can be made by the perusal of any writing. 

2. The tones of the voice, the looks and gestures, which accompany 
discourse, and which no writing can convey, render speech, when it is 
ingeniously managed, infinitely more clear, and more expressive^thac 

4* 



-36 Comparison of spoken with written Language. 

the most accurate writing. For tones, looks, and gestures, are natu- 
ral interpreters of the mind. They remove ambiguities — they enforce 
expressions — they operate on us by means of sympathy. 

3. And sympathy is one of the most powerful instruments of per- 
suasion. Our sympathy is always awakened more by hearing the 
speaker, than by reading his works in our closet. 

Carol. Hence, though writing may answer the purposes of mere in- 
struction, as the symbolical language of Algebra does the mathemat- 
ical science — all the great and high efforts of eloquence must be made 
by means of spoken, not of written, language: — and thus have we 
traced from their origin, through different stages. of improvement, 
language and style as the foundation of eloquence 



OF THE STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE; OR 

THE PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL 

GRAMMAR. 



CHAPTER I. 



OF THE SEVERAL PARTS OF WHICH SPEECH OR LANGUAGE IS 
COMPOSED. 

43. THE structure of language is extremely artificial ; 
and there are few sciences in which a deeper, or more re- 
lined logic is employed, than in grammar. 

Obs. Without discussing the niceties of language in the several parts 
of speech of which it is composed, we shall now take a popular, but 
philosophical view of the chief principles, and component parts of 
speech, as far as they are necessary to illustrate general grammar, and 
to ascertain the maxims of correct taste and elegant composition. 

44. The essential parts of speech are the same in all lan- 
guages. There must ever be some words which denote the 
names of objects, or mark the subject of discourse; other 
words which denote the qualities of those objects, and ex- 
press what we affirm concerning them : and other words, 
which point out their connexions and relations. 

Corol. The most simple and comprehensive division of the parts of 
speech, is, therefore, into substantives, attributes, and connectives. 

45. The common division, or arrangement of all the words 
of our own language, comprises the 



ARTICLE, 

NOUN, 
PRONOUN, 



VERB, 

PARTICIPLE, 

ADVERB, 



PREPOSITION, 

INTERJECTION, 

CONJUNCTION. 



Obs. But the following paragraph will instruct us to direct our at- 
tention chiefly to the noun and the verb, as a few observations will 
illustrate those other parts of speech, to which our ears have been fa- 
miliarized. 

46. Every thing about which our minds can be employed 
in thinking, every thing which can be the subject of our 
knowledge, must relate to substances that exist, either in 
reality, ov\n the imagination; or to actions, operations, and 






58 The Principles of general Grammar. 

energies, which these substances produce on themselves, or 
on one another. 

Corol. Language communicates knowledge; its divisions of words, 
therefore, correspond with the divisions of our knowledge ; its chief 
business is consequently reduced to two heads: — 

First, to exhibit names for all the substances with which we are ac- 
quainted, that we may be able to distinguish and recognize them, 
when they are mentioned by ourselves, or others : and, 

Secondly, to denote the actions, operations, and energies, which these 
substances generate upon themselves, or on one another. 

47. Names are expressed by what grammarians call 
Noims ; operations are denoted by what they call Verbs; 
the other parts of speech explain, modify, extend, restrict, 
connect, or disjoin, the noun and the verb. 

Corol. The two former are, therefore, the essential ingredients, ov 
the columns of language; the latter are only occasional ingredients, 
or appendages of these pillars of the fabric. (Art. 44.J 

48. The first process in the communication of knowledge 
is to contrive names for all the substances about which our 
knowledge is conversant, and by common consent to im- 
pose the same names on the same substances, (Art. 17* 
and 18.; 

Illus. As substantives are the ground work of all language, a lan- 
guage is perfect in respect to them, when a name has been given to 
every material or immaterial substance about which the people who 
use the language have occasion to speak or write. As their knowl- 
edge enlarges, as they obtain more ideas of substances than they have 
names to express, new names will be imposed on these new substan- 
ces, which will consequently throw into their vocabulary as many new 
substantives, as may render their language adequate to the purposes 
of ready communication. 

Corol. Hence, if every substance in nature required a particular 
name to distinguish it from all other substances ; every mineral, plant, 
animal, and every part of every animal, should obtain a distinct name, 
which would increase the substantives of a language beyond all com- 
putation. But nature has reduced her productions into classes: the 
individuals of every class, resemble, one another, in many particulars : 
and therefore it is that language hath not assigned a name to every 
substance. Even her different classes are formed with some common 
properties ; and thus, in some particulars, the different classes resem- 
ble one another. Thus, the generic word plant, expresses the com- 
mon qualities of all vegetables ; animal, the common qualities of all 
living creatures. 

49. These genera are divided into what we term spe- 
eies, and these species are again divided into inferior spe- 
cies, or become genera to other species. 

Illus. Thus the word pla7it, is a general term, which indicates trees, 
scrubs, grasses, and art vegetables which spring from a root, and bear 



Classification of Substantives into Genera, tye. §9 

branches and leaves. And under the comprehensive term animal, we 
range men, horses, lions, sheep, and, in short, all living- creatures. 
But trees are again divided into oaks, pines, palms ; and men into- 
white, black, tawny, he. 

50. This arrangement abridges the number of nouns, and 
gives names only to classes of substances, compelling one 
name to point out a whole class. 

Illus. Thus, tree expresses a whole genus of plants ; each of the 
words oak, pine, palm, denotes a whole species. But language stoops 
not to give a name to every oak, and she hath left it to beings of a 
sentient nature, to particularize each other. (Corol.Art. 48.,) 

51. To characterize individuals by names, language de- 
parts from its ordinary analogy. 

Illus. This necessity — a mere refinement in the communication of 
thought — extends to countries and cities, to all the individuals of the 
human race, and sometimes to the inferior animals. 

For example .- Italy, Rome ; Greece, Athens ; Alexander, Buceph- 
alus, are all individuals ; and the particular names which we appro- 
priate to each of them, prevents ambiguous and disagreeable circum- 
locutions, or descriptions, to make it known. 

52. We deduce, from these observations, the meaning of 
the grammatical division of nouns into common and proper. 
The common nouns are, (by the illustration to Article 50) 
the names of classes of individuals. The proper nouns, 
(by the Illustration and Example of Article 51,) are all 
names of individuals. 

53. The noun tree denotes any individual of the whole 
species in the singular number; and, in the plural, all the 
individuals of the species. Alexander, on the contrary, is 
a particular name, and is restricted to distinguish him alone. 

Illue. On this principle, are all common nouns susceptible of num- 
ber, singular or plural, as they denote one, or more than one, of a 
species ; and hence, also, it appears plain, why proper nouns do not 
take a plural form, except in some instances, when they express more 
than one individual of a species, and of the same name ; as " the 
twelve Caesars," " the Henries of England." 

Corol. The only nouns of language are, therefore, common nouns ; 
proper nouns being local and occasional, appropriated to persons and 
places, make no part of general communication. (Compare Art. 52. 
and Illus. to Art. 50. and 51.) 

54. Number, which distinguishes objects as singly or 
collectively, must have been coeval with the very infancy 
of language, because there were few things which men had 
more frequent occasion to express, than the difference be- 
tween one and many. 

Obs. The distinctions of number are signified, in most languages^ 



40 Of Gender and Number. 

by some change in the terminations of the nouns, and it rarely hap 
pens that the change is extended further than to denote, whether one 
individual, or all the individuals of the species, be understood. The 
Greek dual is not more necessary for the purposes of communication, 
than a triple, a quadruple, a centuple, or any other plural number, 
where the richness of a language would furnish it, to denote a given 
number of individuals of the species. 

55. Substantives are susceptible of other concomitant cir- 
cumstances, besides their capacity to denote difference of 
number. These circumstances are the variations of the ter- 
minations, and are called cases. 

Jllus. 1. This peculiarity of substantives or nouns, is a necessary 
provision for expressing the circumstances attending them, and has 
been accomplished in two ways, either by varying their terminations, 
or by preferring auxiliary words. The ancient languages employed 
the former of these methods; the modern languages accomplish the 
same end, by prefixing particles or preposition". 

2. These methods are perhaps nearly equal, in respect of perspicu- 
ity ; but that of antiquity is preferable, in point of melody. Particles 
and prepositions are mostly monosyllables, and the frequency with 
which they must be used, impairs the modulation of language. 

3. The Greek language has five cases in the singular, two in the 
dual, and four in the plural number. 

4. The Latin tongue has sometimes six, but generally five, in the 
singular, and four in the plural. 

5. No cases appear in the Italian, the French, and the Spanish lan- 
guages ; and there are not more than two in the English. 

56. Gender, another peculiarity of substantive nouns, 
in the grammatical structure of language, arises out of the 
difference of sex, discernible only in animals. It will there- 
fore admit of two varieties, the masculine and feminine 
genders, agreeably to the distinction of living creatures into 
male and female. All other substantive nouns ought to be- 
long to what grammarians call the neuter gender, which is 
a negation of the other two. 

Illus. 1. In the structure of language, a remarkable singularity hath 
obtained with respect to this distribution. In most languages, men 
have ranked a great number of inanimate objects under the distinc- 
tions of masculine and feminine This is remarkably the case in the 
Greek and Latin languages, which admit this capricious assignation 
of sex to inanimate objects, from no other px'inciple than the casual 
structure of those languages, which refer to a certain gender, words of 
a certain termination ; yet even termination does not always govern 
this distribution into masculine and feminine, but many nouns in those 
languages are classed, where all of them ought to have been classed, 
under the neuter gender. 

2. In the French and Italiau tongues, the neuter gender is wholly 
unknown ; and all their names of inanimate objects are put upon the 
same footing m ith living creatures, and distributed, without exception^ 
into masculine and feminine. 



Of Articles, Pronouns and Adjectives. 41 

3. In the English language, there obtains a peculiarity quite oppo- 
site. In the English, when we use common discourse, all substantive 
nouns, that are not names of living creatures, are neuter without ex- 
ception. He, she, ?7, are the marks of the three genders ; and we al- 
ways use it) in speaking of any object where there is no sex, or where 
the sex is not known. In this respect, our own language is pre-emi- 
nently philosophical in the application of its genders, or of those words 
which mark the real distinctions of male and female. Yet the genius 
of the language permits us, whenever it will add beauty to our dis- 
course, to make the names of inanimate objects masculine or feminine 
in a metaphorical sense ; and when we do so, we are understood to 
quit the literal style, and to use what is termed a figure of speech. By 
this means, we have it in our power to vary our style at pleasure. By 
making a very slight alteration, we can personify any object we choose 
to introduce with dignity ; and by this change of manner, we give 
warning that we are passing, from the strict and logical, to the orna- 
mental, rhetorical style. 

4. Of this advantage, not only every poet, but every good writer 
and speaker in prose, avails himself; and it is an advantage peculiar 
to our own tongue ; bo other language possesses it. Every word in 
other languages has one fixed gender, masculine, feminine, or neuter, 
which cannot on any occasion be changed : ctgiro for instance, in 
Greek; vertus in Latin ; and la rcrtu in French ; are uniformly fem- 
inine. S/ie must always be the pronoun answering to the word, wheth- 
er you be writing in poetry or in prose, whether you be ufyng the style 
of reasoning, or that of declamation; whereas,* in English, we can 
either express ourselves with the philosophical accuracy of giving no 
gender to things inanimate ; or, by giving them gender, and trans- 
forming them into persons, we adapt them to the style of poetry, and, 
when ic is proper, we enliven prose. 

5. On this general principle, we give the masculine gender to those 
substantive nouns used figuratively, which are conspicuous for the at- 
tributes of imparting or communicating; which are by nature strong 
and efficacious, either to good or evil, or which have a claim to some 
eminence, whether laudable or not. Those again we make feminine, 
which are conspicuous for the attributes of containing and of bring- 
ing forth, which have more of the passive in their nature, than of the 
active ; which are peculiarly beautiful or amiable ; or which have 
respect to such excesses, as are rather feminine than masculine. 

57. Articles are little words prefixed to substantives, 
or to other parts of speech, used as substantives, to enlarge 
or circumscribe their meaning. 

Jllus. 1. When we survey any object we never saw before, or speak 
about an object with which we are not intimately acquainted, the first 
thing which we do to distinguish, or ascertain it, is, to refer to its spe^ 
cies, or to class it with some other objects of its species, of which we 
have some knowledge. (Art. 49. lUus.) 

Example. We would say, a tree, a house, a horse, a man, when we 
wished to denote any individual of these classes which we had never 
seen before, and of which, from its appearance, we knew nothing, but 
its species. These objects are individuals of the species called trees-j 
horses, houses, or men ; and must therefore possess the common qual- 
ities of their respective species. (Art. 50, Illus.) 



42 Of Articles, Pronouns, and Adjectives. 

2. But, on surveying the same objects a second time, and recollect = 
ing our former acquaintance with them, or their own particular prop- 
erties, we would not express our sentiments of them in the same lan- 
guage, in which we did at first. Besides referring them to their spe- 
cies, we would now signify the additional ideas of having formerly 
seen them, and of having been made acquainted with their nature, or 
distinction; and would therefore employ the following phraseology: 
the tree, the house, the horse, the man. 

Corol. 1. The article a is called indefinite, because it refers the ob- 
ject to its species only, and denotes our conceptions of it no further 
than the common qualities of the species extend. 

2. The article the is called definite, because it discriminates the ob- 
ject to which it is prefixed, from all others, of the same species, and 
denotes our previous acquaintance with it, or its own particular char- 
acteristics. 

58. Pronouns are the class of words most nearly related 
to substantive nouns; being, as their name imports, repre- 
sentatives, or substitutes, of nouns. 

Illus. J, thou, he, she, it, are pronouns, and they are no other than 
an abridged way of naming the persons or objects with which we 
have immediate intercourse, or to which, in discourse, we are fre- 
quently obliged to refer. 

Carol. They are thenCe, with substantive nouns, subject to the same 
modifications of number, gender, and case. 

Obs. 1. As the prflnouns of the first and second person refer to per- 
sons who are present to each other when they speak, their sex must 
appear, and therefore needs not to be marked by a masculine or fem- 
inine "pronoun. But as the third person may be absent, or unknown, 
the distinction of gender there becomes necessary ; and accordingly, 
in English, the third person hath all the three genders belonging to it ' r 
he, she, it. 

2. In English, most of our grammarians hold the personal pronouns 
to have two cases, besides the nominative ; a possessive or genitive, 
and an accusative — /, mine, me; thou, thine, thee ; he, his, him; who, 
whose, whom ; we, ours, us ; ye, yours, you ; they, theirs, them. 

59. Adjectives, or terms of quality, such as great, little, 
black, white, are the plainest and simplest of all that class 
of words which are termed attributive. (Art. 44. Corol. ) 

Obs. I. They are found in all languages; and, in all languages, 
must have been very early invented, as objects could not be distin- 
guished from one another, nor could any intercourse be carried on 
concerning them, till names were given to their different qualities. 

2. Between adjectives and participles there is no difference, except 
that the latter, along with their primary signification, denote the addi- 
tional idea of time. Both serve to notify the qualities or attributes, 
and to define and illustrate the meaning of substantives. 

3. ^ All adjectives which denote qualities susceptible of augmentation 
or diminution, and almost all the qualities which are so, are suscepti- 
ble of comparison. 

4. Though the degrees of augmentation of which a quality is suscep- 
tible maybe almost infinite, yet the framers of languages have been 
content with marking two stages only of these degrees. 






The General Principles of Grammar. 43 

5. By the former is signified that of two quantities compared, one 
is greater than the other ; by the latter is understood, that of any lar- 
ger number of qualities than two compared, one is the greatest among 
them. 

6. The ancient languages express their degrees of comparison, chief- 
ly by adding terminations to the adjectives ; the modern languages in- 
cline more to signify them by auxiliary words. 

60. The Verb is by far the most complex of the whole class 
of words which are called attributive. The chief character- 
istic of the verb is action or energy. The combination of 
ideas which it is thence employed to express, unavoidably 
renders it the most intricate of all the parts of speech. 

Carol. Verbs, therefore, from their importance and necessity m 
speech, must have been coeval with men's first attempts towards the 
formation of language. (Art. 54.) 

61. Of the various circumstances which must be commu- 
nicated by the word denoting action, the chief refer to time 
and manner. 

Illus. In relating an action it is requisite to notify whether it is fin- 
ished, is finishing, or will be finished. And it is no less important to 
Communicate also the manner in which the action has been perform- 
ed, is performing, or will be performed. Whether the agent operated 
wnh deliberation, confidence and resolution, or with embarrassment, 
hesitation, and suspicion ; whether he commanded the performance 
of the actiejij or signified only his inclination that it should be per- 
formed. 

Carol. Hence arose the necessity that the verb along with the sig- 
nification of action, should likewise express time, and that, with the 
signification of action and «tme, it should also denote manner. Here, 
then, we find the origin of moods and tenses. 

62. As it was necessary that the circumstances of time 
and manner should attend the signification of action ; the 
next important step in the formation of language, was, to de- 
termine by what means this combined communication should 
be accomplished. 

Illus. One of two methods, it seems, must have been adopted; ei- 
ther to vary the terminations of the verb, or to conjoin with it auxilia- 
ry words, so as to convey these additional circumstances. The for- 
mer of these methods, with a mixture of the latter, in the passive form 
of their verbs, was employed by the Greeks and Romans. The lat- 
ter method, with a mixture of the former, in the active form of their 
verbo ; has been adopted by the English, the French, and the Italians. 

63. The structure of the verb was rendered still more 
complicated, because it was found requisite that along with 
the signification, of action, time, and manner, it should also 
denote person and number, to adapt it for corresponding 
with the persons and numbers of nouns and pronouns with 
which it might be connected. 

5 



44 The Structure of the Verb. 

Obs. To combine so many important articles in one word, required 
a degree of ingenuity, which nothing could supply but the discern- 
ment and experience of ages. 

64. Experience, doubtless, proved that the division of 
time into present, past, and future, was not sufficient for the 
purposes of communication. 

fllus. 1. The fleeting nature of present time made any subdivision 
of it both difficult and unnecessary > hence, all polished languages 
have, in any mood, one tense only appropriated to express present 
time. 

2. A similar opinion seems to have guided the construction of lan- 
guages for expressing future time, which, including a long duration, 
was divisible into parts ;. but the total ignorance in which mankind 
are involved concerning actions that may take place in that period, 
must have digested them of all disposition to mark differences of fu- 
ture time, or to provide language with tenses for that purpose. Hence, 
all polished languages, except the Greek, have also been contented 
with one tense expressive of future time. The pernio post futurum of 
the Greeks is a specimen of their ingenuity to cultivate and improve 
their language, rather than as requisite for the communication of 
knowledge, since by this tense they intended to signify that the action 
was future, but would not be long so, because the time of its execution 
would quickly arrive. 

3. The past, then, is the time which the framers of all languages 
have been chiefly anxious to subdivide. Most of the actions wtieh 
could be the subject of discourse or writing, must have taken piace in 
past time ; and to render the accounts of them more conspicuous and 
intelligible, it must often have been requisite to specify ihe progress, 
or stages of their execution. Hence the various divisions of past time, 
and the different tenses significant of them with which all languages, 
even the most imperfect, abound. Of polished languages, the least 
complete, in this respect, have three divisions : 

First, a pluperfect tense, by which is signified that the action is fin- 
ished, and that some time has intervened since it was completed. 

Secondly, ^perfect, which denotes that the action is finished, but that 
very little, or no time has elapsed since its completion. 

Thirdly, an imperfect, which signifies that the action had been go- 
ing on but had not been completed. The language of ancient Rome 
possessed only these tenses significant of past time. 

4. But the Greek language, the English, and the French, besides 
these tenses, employ another, which the Greeks called an Jlorist, and 
which denotes only that the action is completed, without distinguish- 
ing in what division of past time the completion took place, or wheth- 
er the execution was pluperfect, perfect, or imperfect. 

5. In the usual course of speaking and writing, this state of an ac- 
tion frequently occurs ; and, therefore, a tense adapted to express it, 
is of singular convenience and advantage. When the completion of 
the action is the only circumstance of consequence to be communica- 
ted, the proper tense to be employed is the Jlorist. The Latin lan- 
guage hath its ambiguous amavi r but the sense of the context only 
enables the learner or the reader to discover whether it denotes the 
*torist i9fr»rx } faimai, Iloved; or the perfect past irtytKiiKz, j'ai aime, I 
have loved. 



The general Principles of Grammar, 45 

65. The use of moods is to denote the manner in which 
an action is performed, together with the dispositions and 
feelings entertained by the agent relative to its perform- 
ance. 

Illus. 1. The capital views of an action relative to manner or mood, 
refer either to its actual performance, or to the power, inclination, or 
obligation of the agent to perform it ; or to the authority or right 
of the agent to .entreat or command the performance ; or, finally, to 
the exhibition of the action, without any consideration of the agent, 
or of the sentiments that he may entertain concerning the perform- 
ance. 

2. These circumstances comprehend every general view of an ac- 
tion, that human affairs can well be supposed to suggest. For, 

First, the agent may either possess power, inclination, or obligation, 
to perform the action, and actually perform it. 

Or, Secondly, he may possess power, inclination, or obligation to 
perform the action, and without being able to put them in execution. 

Or, Thirdly, he may have a right, or authority, to entreat or 
command the power or inclination of some other agent to perform 
the action. 

Or, Finally, the situation of the action may require only its bare ex- 
hibition, without any regard to the capacity, the duty, or the perform- 
ance of the agent. 

Corol. Hence, from these views, we readily discern the origin of 
die four moods of verbs commonly employed by polished languages. 

1. The indicative denotes the actual performance of the action. 

2. The subjunctive expresses the power, inclination, or obligation 
of the agent to perform the action, but leaves the performance to be 
decided by circumstances not yet come into existence ; on account of 
which it is called the conditional mood. ' 

3. The imperative exhil\»* c the asrent as entreating 1 or commanding 
the performance of the action. 

4. The infinitive represents the action in general, without connec- 
tion with any agent, or reference to him, or any powers or disposi- 
tions depending upon him. 

Illus. 1. J write is an indicative assertion, because it denotes an ac- 
tion in actual performance. 

2. J may write is subjunctive/ because it denotes disposition or 
capacity only, and communicates nothing with respect to perform- 
ance. 

3. I have written is indicative, because it denotes performance al- 
ready past. 

4. J might have written is subjunctive, because it communicates 
part, capacity, inclination, or obligation, but signifies nothing about 
performance. 

5. Write thou is an imperative, because it does not necessarily infer 
performance, and imports nothing more than that the action of writ- 
ing should be performed. 

66. Theory of moods. In the present and past tenses, 
therefore, the indicative denotes performance; — the sub- 
junctive, intention or disposition ; — the imperative is suscep- 
tible of no time but the present, when it also expresses dis- 



46 The Structure of the Verb. 

position. But, in respect of future time, even the indica- 
tive cannot denote performance; and the subjunctive must 
be destitute of this tense altogether. 

Illus. 1 . For, as an action can have no real existence, till the time 
of its execution arrive ; so language can express nothing concerning 
it, but the present views and dispositions of the agents, who may 
foretell performance, or promise to perform. / shall write is signifi- 
cant only of prediction or intention, the execution of which must be 
future ; "and therefore, in the future tense, the indicative approaches 
the nature of the subjunctive and imperative, and expresses chiefly 
disposition. The main difference between them seems to be this, that 
the future of the indicative, along with the signification of disposition, 
conveys something positive or affirmative with regard to execution. 
If the two other moods imply at all the execution of the dispositions 
which they denote, they hold it forth as altogether contingent or con- 
ditional. 

2. All the sentiments which can exist, or be expressed, relative to 
future actions, must refer either to the views of them which the agent 
formerly entertained, or now indulges. Of the appearances which 
these actions will assume when they come into existence, or of the 
sentiments which will be entertained concerning them, he can know 
nothing; and, therefore, these appearances and sentiments, can 
neither be the subjects of thought nor of language. Hence, since 
past and present intentions and dispositions are the only circum- 
stances with which we either are or can be acquainted, it is evident 
that a mood, limited to express intention and disposition, cannot ad- 
mit a future tense, because no ideas of future intentions and disposi- 
tions exist in the mind of man, which it may communicate. 

3. The tense J shall have loved, commonly called " the future of the 
the subjunctive," has no participation with the usual import of the 
other tenses of that mood ; for it is exoressive of no sentiment that 
is future and conditional as to its execution, out is equally positive 
and affirmative with I shall love, the tense commonly called the fu- 
ture of the indicative. They both signify intention relative to future 
action ; and the only difference between them is, that, taking the ex- 
ecution of both to refer to some fixed point of time, the action of 
the former will be finished, when the action of the latter will be Jin- 
^'sfmig. 

67. This theory of the moods, then, gives to the indi- 
cative seven tenses, and to the subjunctive not more than 
four. 

Illus. 1. The indicative will exhibit pesent time, denoted by the 
tenses present, and perfect present; as, I love, I have loved — qixiu, 
TupixuKA — amo, amavi: past time, by the imperfect and pluperfect ten- 
ses, I was loving, I had loved — zQtxtcv 7 sr}<tfo»x.uv — amabam, amavcram . 
future time, by the tenses styled the future of the indicative, and the 
future of the subjunctive, I shall love, I shall have loved — <pi?,»<rce, <pi»<rc{Ai 
— amabo, amhvero : and the whole of past time denoted by the Ao- 
rist, I loved — i<pt>->io-a. 

2. The subjunctive will exhibit present time, divided into present 
and perfect present ; as, 7 may love, I may have loved~ei*.Z, 7r<<?ix»}tto 
— amem, omaverim ; and past time divided into perfect and pluper- 
fect, I could love, J could have loved— amar em, amavissem. 



The general Principles of Grammar. 47 

68. Tenses and moods, in the Greek and Latin lan- 
guages, are generally discriminated by different inflexions 
*>f the verb; in the modern languages they are chiefly de- 
noted by AUXILIARIES. 

Illus. 1. 'Die auxiliaries of the indicative mood are, have, had, shall, 
will. 

Have and had mark time ; the former denoting that the action is 
finished just now ; the latter that some interval has elapsed since it 
was completed. 

Shall and will express futurity, but with it some affection or dispo- 
sition of the agent. Thus, in the first person, shall barely foretells, 
or predicts performance ; as, I shall walk ; " hereafter I am to per- 
form the action of walking." Will implies promise or engagement ; 
/ tall walk ; a I am determined hereafter to walk." In the second 
and third persons, these auxiliaries exchange their additional signifi- 
cations ; and shall denotes promise or engagement ; as, thou shall 
•end: will expresses futurity; as, he will run: that is to say, accord- 
ing to promise or engagement, " thou shalt read ;" and " he will here- 
after run." 

2. The auxiliaries of the present of the subjunctive are may and 
can ; and of the perfect, might, could, zvould, should. 

May and can denote capacity or ability ; as, J may write, I can read. 
Might and could, express the perfect time of may and can ; and like 
them are significant of ability or capacity; but the execution depends 
on circumstances which have not yet come into existence. Thus, " I 
might see him," and " I could tell him," express that my capacity to 
.see and tell him is complete, and I only wait for an opportunity to 
put it in action. 

Would denotes inclination, should obligation, but the performance 
hangs upon some incident, or power, not under the controul of the 
agent ; as, " 1 would read, if I had a book j" "I should walk, if I had 
leave." 

3. The auxiliary to be, usually called a substantive verb, because it 
is confined to the signification of existence only, is generally and nat- 
urally an auxiliary of the passive form of the verb. In this case it is 
always attended with the perfect participle of the same form; as, " J 
nm loved," — '< I have been loved," — " I shall be loved." But added to 
the present participle of thg active form, and supported by the other 
auxiliaries, there is not a mood or tense of the active form of the verb, 
which to be may not denote; as, "I am loving," — <c I may be loving," 
— " Be thou loving," — " To be loving," are expressions equivalent to, 
1 love, I may love, love thou, to love. 

69. The infinitive mood requires no agent to be pre- 
fixed or understood in the form of a nominative. The in- 
finitive, thus disengaged from all connexion with person or 
number, and significant of action in general, without consid- 
eration of any agent, approaches the nature of a substantive, 
noun, and in all languages is frequently substituted in its 
place. The infinitive farther, used as a substantive, is near- 
ly equivalent to the present participle, employed in the 
same manner, 

5* 



4S The Structure of the Verb. 

Example. Thus, to hear, is nothing more than the action of hearing 
and every such participle, in English, may be converted into a sub- 
stantive, by prefixing one of the articles, the usual characteristics oi 
substantives. (Art. bl.) 

Obs. 1. The occasions on which it is requisite to express action 
without reference to any agent, are very numerous, and the use of 
the infinitive is, of course, very frequent. Its relation to the other 
moods is similar to that of abstract substantives to the adjectives from 
which they are formed ; as, goodness from " good." (Art. 59. Obs. 2.) 
But good denotes a quality inherent in the particular substance Co 
which it is applied ; and goodness expresses a quality common to all 
the substantives to which it is competent to apply the adjective. 

2. In like manner, the finite moods exhibit always some action, 
performed by an agent, either specified or understood, as the nomina- 
tive to the verb. The infinitive denotes the action, without reference 
to any particular agent ; but the action is practicable only by the 
agents who may be made nominatives to the finite moods. 

Thus, as goodness denotes a quality common to all objects that are 
good; so to read denotes an action which can be performed by all 
agents who have learned letters. 

3. The infinitive also, like the participle, retains so much of its verb= 
al quality, in denoting action, as to be susceptible of time ; and it 
possesses variations to express the three great divisions of past, pres- 
ent, and future. It seldom, however, introduces a sentence, but de- 
fends most commonly on some verb that precedes it ; hence, the time 
which it assumes, is to be reckoned from that of the antecedent verb. 

4. Taking, then, the time of the antecedent verb, as a fixed point, 
in computing the time of the infinitive, we employ the present, the 
past, or the future tense, according as the action which it denotes hap- 
pens to be the same, of prior, or of posterior time, to that of the ante- 
cedent verb ; as, "I am happy to see him," — "I am happy to have 
seen him," — " I am happy to be about to see him." 

70. Of the adverb. The chief use of the adverb, as its 
name imports, is to modify the verb. The circumstances of 
action, expressed by tenses and moods, are all of a nature 
too general, to be sufficient for the purposes of communica- 
tion. It is often necessary to be much more particular in 
ascertaining both the time and the manner, but particularly 
the place of the action. The important office of the adverb, 
is to accomplish these ends. 

Illus. 1. Though tenses display a great degree of ingenuity in their 
formation, they rarely descend farther than to denote performance in 
past, present, or future time. But we find it necessary to be often 
much more minute, and to signify whether the action was done yes- 
terday, lately, long ago ; or is to be done now, immediately, instant- 
ly ; or will be done quickly, presently, hereafter ; or will be repeated 
often, seldom, daily, once, twice, thrice. 

2. All the circumstances communicated by moods are of a very 
general nature. The indicative expresses performance only ; the sub- 
junctive and imperative denote bare intention or disposition; while 
the infinitive scarcely descends farther than the name of the action, 
without specifying its nature 



JldverDSy Prepositions, and Conjunctions. 49 

3: The very varied and numerous situations of society, demanded 
the signification of many circumstances of action much more particu 
lar ; and to express these, a large class of adverbs was devised. 

These adverbs indicate quality and manner, either simply, as wisely, 
prudently, cautiously ; or positively, as truly, certainly, unquestionably , 
or contingently, as perhaps, probably, possibly ; or negatively, as no, 
not, erroneously; or conjointly, as together, generally, universally ; or 
separately, as apart, solely, solitarily. Sometimes they denote magni- 
tude, as wholly, altogether, exceedingly ; or comparison, as preferable ; 
or passion, as angrily, lovingly , furiously, valiantly ; or merit, as learn- 
edly, prudently, industriously. 

4. The circumstances of action relative to place are imparted by 
another copious class of adverbs. The principal views which they ex- 
hibit are, whether the action is performed in a place, or in moving to 
it, through it, or from it. Of the first sort are here, there, where, with- 
in, without ; of the second, hither, thither, and the compounds of the 
syllable ward, as toward, forward, backward, upward, downward; of 
the third, nowhere, elsewhere^ everywhere ; of the fourth, hence, whence, 
thence. 

5. Of the adverbs which signify time and manner, two, one from 
each class, often attend on the same verb, by an analogy similar to 
the appearance of every verb, both in a tense and a mode, on the 
same occasion. The adverb significant of time is generally placed 
before the verb, and after it is placed the adverb significant of man- 
ner. That which precedes circumscribes the time expressed by the 
tense, and that which follows limits the manner expressed by the 
mood. 

6. Adverbs are susceptible of comparison, sometimes regular, as 
soon, sooner, soonest ; but oftener irregular r as readily, more readily , 
most readily. One adverb is frequently employed to qualify another, 
as too confidently, very seldom. And, finally, they are often applied to 
circumscribe adjectives, as unmercifully, severe, highly criminal, super- 
latively excellent. 

71. Prepositions are words prefixed to substantives,, 
to denote the various relations which, they bear to one an- 
other. 

Illus. In English they are generally monosyllabic words, chiefly 
employed to supply the deficiency of the inflections commonly called 
cases. But in the Welsh language they undergo inflection with the 
cases of nouns. In English they occasionally lend their aid to fur- 
nish compounded verbs, as foretell, uv.dervalue ; and in all cases they 
act as proportional ingredients of composition, by adding to it the 
full import of their powers. 

72. Conjunctions are used to connect single substan- 
tives, clauses of sentences, or members of periods. 

Illus. Conjunctions are divided into various classes, copulative, dis- 
junctive, and adversitive; but their most useful distinction relates to 
the correspondence which they have to one another in different clau- 
ses or members of a period ; and in the right management of which, 
both the perspicuity and propriety of language are not a little con- 
cerned. 

Obs. We sometimes find pronouns- connecting sentences as well as 



50 The Nature and Character of the 

conjunctions ; and the latter not unfrequently, by a violent ellipsis, 
performing the substantive office of the former; but in this case the 
conjunction is usually connected with an indefinite relative, as " Let 
such as presume," for " Let them who presume." 

73. Interjections indicate those impressions which so 
suddenly and violently affect the mind of the speaker or 
writer, as to burst asunder the regular train of his 
thoughts and expressions, and thence demand immediate 
utterance. 

Obs. This definition demonstrates that the proper use of these words 
must be extremely limited; and experience proves that the incidents 
which excite such vehement agitation are not very common. (Art. 4. 
Corol.) 

Jllus. Interjections are sparingly used even in the glowing and ani- 
mated languages of antiquity 5 and they appear less seldom with 
grace, in the more tame and phlegmatic tongues of modern times. 
They rarely occur with us but when they interrupt, not language, but 
sileace ; and there are few persons who court those seasons of high 
passion when the'.r sentiments are too violent for communication by 
words, and with difficulty admit utterance, at intervals, by sighs and 
groans. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF THE USE WHICH GIVES 
LAW TO LANGUAGE. 

74. Eloquence lias a particular connexion with language* 
as its intention is to convey our sentiments into the minds 
of others, in order to produce upon them a determinate ef- 
fect ; and language is the only vehicle by which this con- 
veyance can be made. 

Corol. The art of speaking, then, is not less necessary to the orator 
'than the art of thinking. Without the latter the former could not have 
existed. Without the former, the latter would be ineffectual. And 
the operations of the latter go on by means of words, for there is no 
evidence that we think without language. 

75. Language is mainly a species of fashion* in which, 
by the general but tacit consent of the people of a particu- 
lar state or country, certain sounds come to be appropri- 
ated to certain thiugs, as their signs, and certain ways of 
inflecting and combining those sounds come to be estab- 
lished, as denoting the relations which subsist among the 
things signified. . (Chap. I. Book I. and Chap. J. Book it.) 

Illus. 1. The philosophical view which we have taken of the €hio^ 
* Campbell Phil, of Rhet. b. ii. e- 1. 



Use which gives Law to Language. SI 

principles and component parts of speech, (Art. 48. Obs.) shew ufs 
plainly it is not the business of grammar to give law to the fashions 
which regulate our speech. From its conformity to these it derives 
its authority and value. 

2. Grammar, therefore, is nothing else than a collection of general 
observations methodically digested, and comprising all the modes pre- 
viously and independently established, by which the significations, de- 
rivations, and combinations of words in that language, are ascertain- 
ed. For, these modes and fashions have no sooner obtained and be- 
come general, than they are the laws of the language, and the gram- 
marian's only business is, to note, collect, and methodize them. . 

3. But this truth concerns alike those comprehensive analogies and 
rules, which affect whole classes of words, and every individual word, 
in the inflecting or combining of which, a particular mode hath pre- 
vailed. 

Corol. Hence, every single anomaly, though departing from the rule 
assigned to the other words of the same class, and on that account 
called an exception, stands on the same basis, on which the rules of 
the tongue are founded, custom having prescribed for it a separate 
rule. (Art. 52 and 53.; 

76. Use or the custom of speaking, is, then, the sole ori- 
ginal standard of conversation, as far as respects the expres- 
sion ; and the custom of writing is the chief standard of style.. 
(Art. 86. lllus.) 

Corol. In every grammatical controversy, wc are, consequently, as 
a last resort, entitled to appeal from the laws and the decisions of the 
grammarians, to the tribunal of use, as to the supreme authority. (Art, 
79. lllus.) 

Obs. 1. The conduct of our ablest grammarians proves that this or* 
der of subordination ought never, on any account, to be reversed. 

2. But if use be of such consequence in this matter, before advanc- 
ing any farther, let us endeavour to ascertain precisely what it is, as it 
would otherwise be erroheous to agree about the name, while we differ- 
ed about the notion that we assigned to it. 

71. Reputable use, sometimes called general use, implies, 
not only currency but vogue, and may be defined, whatever 
modes of speech are auiWised as good by the writings of a 
great number, if not the majority ofwUUnt Pl i authors: it 
is properly reputable custom, (JirU 80. lllus, and 86. 
Obs. 2.) 

lllus. The good use of language has the approbation of those who 
have not themselves attained it. It is the fate of those who, by reason 
of their poverty and other circumstances, are deprived of the advanta- 
ges of education, to hear words of which they know not the meaning, 
and consequently to produce and misapply them. An affectation of 
imitating their superiors, is, then, the great source of those errors of 
the illiterate, in respect of conversation and the application of words, 
which are beyond their sphere. # 

78. Vulgarisms are those terms and phrases which, not- 
withstanding a pretty uniform and extensive use, are con;- 



52 The Nature and Character of the 

sidered as corrupt, and like counterfeit money, though com- 
mon, not valued. 

Illus. Their use is not reputable, because we associate with them 
such notions of meanness as suit those orders of men among whom 
chiefly the use is found. If we use them we do not approve them, 
and negligence alone suffers them to creep into oar conversation or 
writing, except when they are put into the mouths of characters whom 
we are describing. 

Corol. Their currency, therefore, is without authority and without 
weight. 

79. We always take the sense of the terms and phrases 
belonging to any elegant or mechanical art from the prac- 
tice of those who are conversant in that art ; in like manner, 
from the practice of those who have had a liberal education, 
and are, therefore, presumed to be best acquainted with men 
and things, we judge of the general use of language. 

Illus. But in what concerns words themselves, their construction 
and application, authors of reputation are, by universal consent, in 
actual possession of that standard which is authority ; as to this tribu- 
nal, to which all have access, when any doubt arises, the appeal is al- 
ways made. (Cor. Art. 76.) 

Corol. The source, therefore, of that preference which distinguishes 
good use from bad, in language, is a natural propensity of the human 
mind to believe, that those are the best judges of the proper signs of 
speech, and of their proper application, who understand best the things 
which they represent. (Art. 77. and Illus.) 

80. Authors of reputation have been chosen rather than 
good authors, for two reasons : 

First, because it is more strictly conformable to the truth 
of the case. Though esteem and merit usually go together, 
it is solely the public esteem, and not their intrinsic merit, 
which raises authors to this distinction, ana stamps a val- 
ue on their language. 

Secondly, this character is mo»-» determinate than the 
other, and therefore wore extensively intelligible. Be- 
tween two or more authors, as to the preference in point of 
merit, different readers will differ exceedingly, who agree 
perfectly as to the respective places which they hold in the 
favour of the public. Persons may be found of a taste so 
particular, as to prefer Parnel to Milton, but none will dis- 
pute the superiority of the latter in point of fame. 

Jllus. By authors of reputation, we mean, not only in regard to 
knowledge, but as respects the talent of communicating that knowl- 
edge. There are writers who, as concerns the first, have been deserv- 
edly valued by the public, but whojfcm account of a supposed deficien- 
cy in respect of the second, are considered of no authority in language. 
We of course suppose that their writings are in the English tongue, in 



Use lohich gives Law to Language. 



53 



all the various kinds of composition, in prose and verse, serious and 
ludicrous, grave aud familiar. 

81. National use presents itself in a twofold view, as it 
stands opposed to provincial and to foreign. (Art. 85. and 
88.; 

Illus. Every province has its peculiarities of dialect, which affect not 
merely the pronunciation and accent, but even the inflection and com- 
bination of words. It is thus that the idiom of one district, is distin- 
guished, both from that of the nation, and from that of every other 
province. The narrowness of the circle to which the currency of the 
words and phrases of such dialects is confined, sufficiently discrimin- 
ates them from that which, commanding a circulation incomparably 
wider, is properly styled the language of the country. 

Corot. Hence, we derive one reason, why the term use, on this sub- 
ject, is common^ accompanied with the epithet general. (Art. 19.) 

82. The English language, properly so called, is found 
current, especially in the upper and middle ranks of life, 
over the whole British Empire. 

Illus. Thus, though the people of one province ridicule the idiom of 
another province, they all vail to the English idiom, and scruple not 
to acknowledge its superiority over their own. 

84. Of all the idioms subsisting among us, that to which 
we give the character of purity, is the most prevalent, though 
the language be not universally spoken or written with or- 
thographical and grammatical purity. 

Corol. The faulty idioms do not jar more with true English than 
they do with one another, and their diversity, therefore, subjects them 
to the denomiaation of impure. 

, 84. Professional dialects, or the cant which is sometimes 
observed to prevail among those of the same handicraft, or 
way of life, must be considered, with little variation, in the 
same light with provincial dialects. (Art. 81. Illus.) 

Illus. The currency of the former cannot be so exactly circumscri- 
bed as that of the latter, whose distinction is purely local ; but their 
use is not on that account either more extensive or more reputable. 
Thus: advice, in the commercial idiom, means "information," or 
11 intelligence ;"— nervous, in open defiance of analogy, denotes, in the 
medical sense, " having weak nerves ;"-— and the word turtle, though 
pre-occupied time immemorial by a species of dove, is employed by 
sailors and gluttons, to signify " a tortoise." 

85. National use, as opposed to foreign, is too evident 
to nee 1 illustration ; for the introduction of extraneous 
words and idioms, from other languages and foreign nations, 
cannot be a smaller transgression against the established 
custom of the English tongue, than the introduction of 
words and idioms peculiar to some counties or shires of 



54 Prtsent Usage of the English Language. 

England, or at least somewhere current within the British 
paie. 

Obs. The only material difference between them is, that the one is 
more usually the error of the learned, the other of the unlearned. 
But if, in this view, the former is entitled to greater indulgence, from 
respect paid to learning; in another light, it is entitled to less, from 
its being more commonly the result of affectation. 

Carol. Thus, two essential qualities of usage, in regard to language, 
have been settled, that it be both reputable and national. 

86. Present use is that which falls within the knowledge 
or remembrance of men now living, and which, in fact, reg- 
ulates our style. (Art. 76.) 

Illus. 1. If present use is to be renounced for ancient, it will be ne- 
cessary to determine at what precise period of antiquity, we are to 
obtain our rules of language. But one might be inclined to remove 
the standard to the distance of a century and a half, while another 
may, with as good reason, fix it three centuries backwards, and an- 
other six. Now as the language of any one of these periods, if 
judged by the use of any other, would, no doubt, be found entirely 
barbarous ; either the present use must be the standard of the present 
language, or the language does not admit of any standard ; but expe- 
rience proves, that critics have not the power of reviving at pleasure 
eld fashioned terms, inflections, and combinations, and of making such 
alterations on words, as will bring them nearer to what they suppose 
to be the etymon ; and 'hence we infer, that there is no other dictator 
here but use. Nor will it ever be the arbitrary rules of any man, or 
body of men whatever, that will ascertain the language ; yet words 
are by no means to be accounted the worse for being old, if they are 
not obsolete ; neither is any word the better for being new. On the 
contrary, the sovereign dominion of custom over language, evinces, 
that some time is absolutely necessary to constitute that custom or use, 
on which the establishment of words depends. Yet it is certain, that 
when we are in search of precedents for any word or idiom, there are 
certain mounds, over which we cannot leap with safety. The author- 
ity of Hooker or of Raleigh, how great soever their fame be, will not 
now be admitted in support ©f a term or expression, not to be found 
in any good writer of a later date. 

2. But the boundary must not be fixed at the same date in every 
species of composition. Poetry, which hath ever been allowed a 
wider range than prose, enjoys, in this respect, a singular indulgence, 
to compensate for the peculiar restraints which she is laid under by 
the measure And this indulgence is fraught with a two-fold advan- 
tage ; convenience to the poet, and gratification to the reader. Di- 
versity* in the style relieves the ear, which hath little delight from 
sameness of metre. But still there are limits to this diversity. The 
authority of Milton and Waller remains unquestioned ; and our best 
poets of the present day rarely venture to introduce words or phrases, 
of which no example could be produced, since the times of Spencer or 
Shakespeare. 

3. And eveu in prose, the bounds are not the same for every kind of 
composition. In matters of science, for example, the terms of which, 
from the nature of the subject, are not capable of such accuracy as 
those which belong to ordinary compositions, and are within the reach 



The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism. 55 

of ordinary reader?, there is no necessity of confining an author within 
a narrow circle. But in composing pieces which come under this iast 
denomination, as history, romance, travels, moral essays, familiar 
epistles, and the like, it is safest for an author to consider those words 
and idioms as obsolete, which have been disused by all good writers, 
for a longer period than that to which the age of man ex. 

Obs. 1. The expressions, recent use, and modern use, have been pur- 
posely avoided, because they seem oppose'd to what is ancient ; and the 
word prestnt has been chosen, because, in respect of place, h is oppos- 
ed to absent, and in respect of time, to past or future, which have now 
no existence. When, therefore, the phrase present use occurs in this 
volume, its proper contrary is — obsottte, not ancient. 

2. Though we have acknowledged language to be a species of fash- 
ion ortnode, as doubtless it is ;* yet being much more permanent than 
those things to which the words fashionable and modish are applied, 
the former phrases are cot meant to convey the ideas of novelty and 
levity, but recur to the standard already assigned, (Art. 77. Iitns. and 
SO. lllus.) ; the writings of a plurality of celebrated authors. Thus 
have we established, as general principles, 

I. That use is the sole mistress of language. 

If, That her essential attributes are reputable, national, and present. 

III. That grammar and criticism are but her ministers; and though, 
like other ministers, they would sometimes impose upon the people, 
the dictates of their own humour as the commands of their sovereign, 
they are not so often successful in such attempts, as to encourage the 
frequent repetition of them. 

IV. That what has been said of the English, applies to every tongue 
whatever ; it is founded in use or custom, 

Whose arbitrary sway, 
Words and the forms of language, must obey.t 

And, V. That it is not by ancient, but by present use, that the style 
of every language must be regulated. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE NATURE AND USE OF VERBAL CRITICISM, WITH ITS 
PRINCIPAL RULES OR CANONS, BY WHICH, IN ALL OUR DE- 
CISIONS, WE OUGHT TO BE DIRECTED. 

87- ALL the various qualities of elocution, have their 
foundation in purity, and the great standard of purity is 
tise. (Art. 76, 77. and 86. J 

* « Phil, of Rhet." vol. i. book ii. chap. I. 

t Usas 

Qtiem penes arhitriura est et jus et norma loquendi. 

Hoi: de A#£ PoO. 

6 



56 The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism, 

06s. 1. The essential properties of use, as regarding language, hsw< 
been considered and explained in the preceding chapter ; and in this 
we purpose to establish certain canoiis or rules, whereby the student 
may be enabled to detect the fallacy of that fluent and specious, but 
superficial method, of verbal criticism, which passes current for a de- 
liberate examination, into the principles on which the structure and 
genius of our language are built. (Illus. 1. Art. 86J 

2. -Grammar and criticism, though in a different sphere, are of simi- 
lar benefit to language, that a succinct, perspicuous, and faithful di- 
gest of the laws of the Empire is to society, in comparison of the lab- 
yrinths of statutes, reports, and opinions, which have emanated, 
through a long succession of ages, from legislators, counsellors and 
judges. (HI. p. bo.) 

3. The grammarian compiles the laws, which custom gives to lan- 
guage ; the critic seasonably brings before the public tribunal the 
abuses of innovation. The one facilitates the study of our native 
tongue, advances general use into universal, and gives at least a greater 
stability, if not a permanency, to custom, the most mutable and ca- 
pricious thing in nature ; the other, stigmatizing every unlicensed term f 
and improper idiom, teaches us to suppress them, and to give greater 
precision, and consequently more perspicuitv and beautv to our stvie. 
(Ohs. 1. and 2. Art. 76J 

88. Good use, which, for brevity's sake, shall hereafter 
include reputable, national, and present use, is not always 
uniform in her decisions. 

Ilhts. 1. Whenever a considerable number of authorities can be pro- 
duced in support of two different, though resembling modes of ex- 
pression, for the same thing, there is always a divided use, and he who 
conforms to either side, cannot be said to speak barbarously, or to op- 
pose the usage of the language. (Art. SO. and Illus.) 

89. This divided use hath place sometimes in single 
words, sometimes in constructions, and sometimes in ar- 
rangement. In all such cases, there is scope for choice ; 
and it belongs, without question, to the critical art, to lay 
down the principles, bv which, in all doubtful cases, our 
choice should be directed. (Art. 76. Corol.) 

Illus. 1. There are, indeed, some differences in single words, as isle, 
for ' : island," mount, for u mountain,' which ought still to be retained! 
They are a kind of synonomies. and afford a little variety, without oc- 
casioning any inconvenience. 

2. In our arrangement too, it certainly holds, that various manners 
»uit various styles, as various styles suit various subjects, and various 
sorts of composition. For this reason, unless when some obscurity, 
ambiguity, or inelegance, is created, no disposition of words which hat^ 
obtained the public appi"obation, ought to be altogether rejected. 

;-). In construction, the case is somewhat different. Puritv, perspi- 
cuity, and elegance, generally require, that in this there be the stricter 
uniformity. Yet differences here are not only allowable, but evr i 
convenient, when attended with correspondent' differences in the (.. * 
plication. 



The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism. 57 

to:ol. In those instances, therefore, of divided use, which give scope 
Tor option, the authorities on the opposite sides, in order to assist us in 
-assigning the preference, ought to be equal, or nearly so. When those 
on one side greatly preponderate, it is in vain to oppose the prevailing 
"usage. Custom, when wavering, may be swayed ; but when reluctant, 
she will not be forced. 

90. Canon the first. When use is divided as to any 
particular word or phrase, and the expression used by one 
part hath been pre-oceiipied, or is in any instance suscepti- 
ble of a different signification, and the expression employed 
by the other part never admits a different sense, both per- 
spicuity and variety require, that the form of expression be 
preferred, which, in every instance, is strictly univocal. 

Examples. By consequence, meaning consequently, is preferable to 
■ •' of consequence," as this expression is often employed to denote that 
which is momentous or important. Besides and beside, serve both as 
prepositions and conjunctions. Custom assigns to each a separate 
province ; and good writers humour her, by employing only the former 
as a conjunction, and the latter as a preposition. 

Obs. The improper use of adverbs for adjectives, and rice versa, of- 
fends against precision, and the authority of present use. In those 
verbs, also, which have for the participle passive, both the preterite 
form, and one peculiar, the peculiar form ought to have the preference. 
For the same reason, some are inclined to prefer that use which makes 
ye, invariably the nominative plural of the personal pronoun thou, and 
you, the accusative, when applied to an actual plurality. When used 
for the singular number, custom hath determined that it shall be you in 
both cases. 

91. Canon the second. In doubtful cases, regard ought 
to be had, in our decisions, to the analogy of the language. 

Examples. By this canon, contemporary is preferable to " coterapo- 
rary ;" because in words compounded with the inseparable preposi- 
tion con, the ?i is retained before a consonant, but expunged before a 
vowel, or h mute ; as, con-comilant, co-incide, co-heir. Co-partner is, 
probably, the only exception. But in dubious cases, we are guided by 
the rule, not by the exception. The principle of analogy prefers after- 
wards and homewards, to '• afterward" and " homeward :" and icould 
God, is preferable to '• would to God," though both these last phrases 
plead the authority of custom. 

92. Canon the third. When the terms or expressions 
are, in other respects, equal, that ought to be preferred, 
which is most agreeable to the ear. 

Obs. This rule hath perhaps a greater ehauce of being observed than 
any other, it having been, since the days of Addison, the general aim 
of our public speakers and writers, to avoid harsh and unmusical pe- 
riods. Nay, a regard to sound hath, in some instances, controuled the 
public choice, to the prejudice of both the former canons, which, one 
would think, ought to be regarded as of more importance. 

ErampU. Thus the term ingenuity hath obtained, in preference fv> 



58 The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism. 

" ingenrousness," though the former cannot be deduced, analogically, 
from ingenious ; and bad, besides, been pre-occupied, and consequent-* 
}y would be equivocal, being a regular derivative from the term ingen- 
ious, if the newer acceptation had not, before now, entirely sup- 
planted the other. 

93. Canon the fourth. In cases wherein none of the 
foregoing rules gives either side a foundation of preference, 
a regard to simplicity, in which we include etymology, when 
manifest, ought to determine our choice. 

Obs. Under the name simplicity, we comprehend also brevity ; for 
that expression is always the simplest, which, with equal purity and 
perspicuity, is the briefest. 

lilus. We have several active verbs, which are used indiscriminately, 
either with or without a preposition ; as accept, or accept of; but the 
pimple form is preferable. 

94. Canon the fifth In the few cases wherein neither 
perspicuity nor analogy, neither sound nor simplicity, as- 
sists us in fixing our choice, it is safest to prefer that man- 
ner, which is most conformable to ancient usage. 

Obs. This rule is founded on a very plain maxim — that in language, 
' as in several other things, change itself, unless when it is clearly ad- 
vantageous, is ineligible. On this principle, some writers follow the 
authority of Milton, in preferring that usage, which distinguishes ye, 
as the nominative plural of thou. (Obs. Canon First.) 

Quotations from Shakespeare, on the side of orthography, are not 
much to be minded, because his editors have shamefully abused his 
ancient orthography. 

95. Every thing favoured by good use, is not on that ac- 
count worthy to be retained, though no term, idiom, or ap- 
plication, that is totally unsupported by her, can be admit- 
ted to be good. 

Obs. This posit/on is necessary in order to establish rules for ascer- 
taining both the extent of the authority claimed by custom, and the 
rightful prerogatives of criticism. 

lilus. 1. Though nothing can be good in language from which use 
withholds her approbation, there may be many things to which she 
gives it, that are not in all respects good, or such as are worthy to be 
retained and imitated. In some instances, custom may very properly 
be checked by criticism. 

2. The latter enjoys a sort of negative, though not a censorian pow- 
er of instant degradation. She hath the privilege of remonstrating, 
and, by means of this, when used discreetly, of bringing what is bad 
into disrepute, and so cancelling it gradually : but she hath no positive 
right to establish any thing. 

3. Her power too is like that of eloquence ; she operates on us pure- 
ly by persuasion, depending for success on the solidity, or, at least, 
the speciousness of her arguments ; whereas custom hath au unac- 
countable and irresistible influence over us— an influence which is 



The Nature, and Use of Verbal Criticism. 59 

pvier to persuasion, and independent of it, nay, sometimes even in 
contradiction to it. 

96. Of different modes of expression, that which comes 
to be favoured by general practice, may be denominated 
best, because established; but it cannot always be said with 
truth, that it is established, because best. 

Illus. 1. Time and chance have an influence on all things human, 
and on nothing more remarkably than on language ; and the best 
forms of speech do not always establish themselves by their own supe- 
rior excellence ; for we often see, that of various forms, those will re- 
commend themselves, and come into general use, which, if abstractedly 
considered, are neither the simplest, nor the most agreeable to the ear, 
nor the most conformable to analogy. 

2. Though of any expression, which has obtained the sanction of 
good use, we cannot properly say that it is barbarous, we must admit, 
iliat in other respects, it may be faulty. To get rid of those gross im- 
proprieties, which, though unauthorised by practice, ought to be dis- 
carded, nothing more is necessary than to disuse them. And to bring 
us to disuse them, both the example and the arguments of the critic 
have their weight. 

3. The difference is obvious between the bare omission, or rather 
The not employing of what is used, and the introduction of what is un- 
usual. The former, provided what you substitute in its stead be proper, 
and have the authority of custom, can never come under the observa- 
tion, or at least the reprehension of the reader ; whereas the latter 
shocks our ears immediately 

Coral. 1. Here, therefore, lies one principal province of criticism, to 
point out the characters of those words and idioms which deserve to 
be disfranchised and consigned to perpetual oblivion. It is by careful- 
ly filing off all roughnesses and inequalities, that languages, like met-? 
als, must be polished. This indeed is an effect of Taste. But when 
criticism hath called forth to this object the attention of a people im- 
proving in arts and sciences, there is a probability that the effect will 
be accelerated, and that their speech will not only become richer and 
more comprehensive, but that it will become highly refined, by acquir- 
ing greater precision, perspicuity, and harmony. (Art. 31. and 32 J 

2. It is, however, no less certain, on the other hand, that in the de- 
clension of taste and science, language will unavoidably degenerate ; 
and though the critical art may retard a little, it will never be able ul- 
timately to prevent this degeneracy. 

Obs. As no term, idiom, or application that is totally unsupported 
by use, can be admitted to be good, the following Canons, in relation 
to those words or expressions, which may be thought to merit degra- 
dation from the rank which they have hitherto maintained, will enable 
us to ascertain whether every term, idiom, and application, that is 
countenanced by use, is to be esteemed good, and therefore worthy to 
be retained. 

97. Canon the sixth. All words and phrases which 
are remarkably harsh and unharmonious, and not absolutely 
Necessary, may justly be judged to merit degradation. 



00 The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism'. 

Definition. We call a word or phrase absolutely necessary, when, in 
the event of a dismission, we have none synonymous to supply its place,- 
or in any way to convey properly the same idea, without the aid ot 
circumlocution. 

Obs. There are, however, criteria, by which we may discriminate 
the objectionable words from all others. 

98. Criterion first. A term composed of words already 
compounded, of which the several parts are not easily, and 
therefore not closely united, is always heavy and drawling, 
and withal so ill compacted, that it has not more vivacity 
than a periphrasis, to compensate for the defect of harmony ^ 

Example. Such are the words bare-faced-ness, shame-faced-ntss, un- 
mccess-ful-ness, dis-interest-ed-ness,icrong-headed-ness. 

99. Criterion second. When a word is so formed and 
accented, as to render it of difficult utterance to the speaker, 
and consequently disagreeable in sound to the hearer, it 
may be judged worthy of the fate prescribed by the canon. 
(Art. 97.) 

Illus. This happens in two cases ; first, when the syllables which 
immediately follow the accented syllable, are so crowded with conso- 
nants, as of necessity to retard the pronunciation ; as questionless, 
remembrancer ; — secondly, when too many syllables follow the ac- 
cented syllable, a similar dissonance is found ; as, primarily, peremp- 
torily. 

100. Criterion third. When a short or unaccented syl- 
lable is repeated, or followed by another short or unaccent- 
ed syllable very much resembling it, the pronunciation par- 
takes the appearance of stammering. 

Example This happens when we add the adverbial termination to 
words ending in ly ; as ho'lily ; or when the participial termination 
ing. is added to a noun ending- in er ; &%,fa'rriering, so'ldiering. 

Scholium. Beside the cases which come under the foregoing crite- 
rion, we know of none that ought to dispose us to the total disuse o4' 
words really significant. A little harshness by the collision of conso- 
nants, which, nevertheless, our organs find no difficulty in articulating, 
and which do not suggest to the hearer the disagreeable idea either of 
precipitation or of stammering, is by no means a sufficient reason for 
the suppression of an useful term. It does not do well to introduce 
hard and strong sounds too frequently ; but when they are used spar- 
ingly and properly, they have even a good effect. Variety of sound is 
advantageous to a language ; and it is convenient that we should have 
some sounds that are rough and masculine, as well as some that are 
liquid and feminine* 

* Those languages -which are allowed to be the most susceptible of an the graces 
#f harmony, have admitted many ill sounding words: such are in Greek •'*■**} %- 
ifi^WS-st. xco i*(.itvivl such are also in Latin spississimus percrebrescebantque : and 
in Italian, increcicchiave t spregiatrke. The first Greek word hisses worse than any 



The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism. 61 

101. Canon the seventh. When etymology plainiy 
points to a signification different from that which the word 
commonly bears, propriety and simplicity both require the 
dismission of every such word. 

Illus. The word plainly is used in this canon, because no regard 
should be had to the etymology, when it is from an ancient or foreign 
language, or from obsolete roots in our own language, or when it is 
obscure or doubtful. The case is different, when the roots either are, 
or strongly appear to be, English, and, in present use, clearly suggest 
another meaning. 

Example 1. Beholden implies " obliged," or " indebted." As the 
passive participle of the verb to behold, which it is analogically, it 
conveys a sense totally different. Not that we consider the term as 
equivocal ; for in the last acceptation, it hath long since been disused., 
having been supplanted by beheld. 

CoroL Every word, therefore, whose formation is as analogical as 
this, has, at least, the appearance of impropriety, when used in a sense 
that seems naturally foreign to its radical signification. 

Example 2. The verb to unloose should analogically signify " to tie," 
in like manner as to untie signifies " to loose." 

Corol. All considerations of analogy, propriety and perspicuity T 
unite in persuading us to repudiate the preposterous application of 
every term which includes the impropriety of conveying a sense, the 
reverse of that which its etymology naturally suggests. 

102. Canon the eighth. When any words become 
obsolete, or at least are never used, except as constituting 
parts of particular phrases, it is better to dispense with their 
service entirely, and give up the phrases. 

Illus. First, because the disuse, in ordinary cases, renders the term 
somewhat indefinite, and occasions a degree of obscurity ; secondly,, 
because the introduction of words, which never appear but with the 
same attendants, gives an air of vulgarity and cant, to a style which 
might otherwise be wholly unexceptionable. 

Example. Dint of argument, for " strength of argument ;" — not a 
whit better, for " no better ;" — pro and con, for " on both sides ;" — 
with many similar phrases, will never be used by those who observe 
the eighth canon. 

103. Canon the ninth. All those phrases which, when 
analysed grammatically, include a solecism, (Art. lll.J and 
all those to which use hath affixed a particular sense, but 
which, when explained by the general and established rules 

English word ; the last presents a dissonant recurrence of the same letter, to a de. 
gree unexampled with us, though the mixture of long and short syllables prevents 
that difficulty of utterance, pointed out in the example of Criterion third. The first 
Latin word hisses in pronunciation like an adder roused from its slumbers ; the second 
is as rough as any of those in the example of Criterion Jirst. And the two Italian 
words, from the most musical of all languages, sound harsh and jarring even lo Us- } 
•ttho are accustomed to a dialect boisterous like our weathe*, 



62 The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism, 

of language, are susceptible either of a different sense, or of 
no sense, ought to be discarded altogether. 

Ilius. We shall distinguish this phraseology by the epithet idiomali' 
cal ; and since it is the offspring partly of ignorance, and partly of 
affectation, it divides itself into several examples. 

First, that which includes a solecism, is the phrase, " I had rather 
do such a thing," for, " I would rather do it." This expression is ir- 
regular, because the auxiliary had joined to the infinitive active do, is 
a gross violation of the rules of conjugation ; and it is unnecessary, 
because we can supply its place by a phrase purely English. Good 
use cannot therefore protect it from being branded with the name of 
a blunder. 

Secondly. Phrases, which, when explained grammatically, lead to a 
different sense from what the words in conjugation commonly bear ; 
as, " he sings a good song," for *' he sings well." A good song may 
be ill sung, and therefore the plain meaning of the words, as they stand 
connected, is very different. So also, " he plays a good fiddle," for 
i: he plays well on the fiddle," involves a solecism. 

A fourth impropriety is, a. river's emptying itself. But to empty, is 
" to exhaust," or " to evacuate." Now passing the word river, as a 
metonymy for channel, is this ever " evacuated or exhausted ?" when 
it is, it ceases to be a channel, and becomes a hollow or valley. A riv- 
er falls into the sea, and a ship " falls down the river," as the motion 
is no other than a fall down a real, though gentle, declivity. 

The fifth sort are those vile but common phrases, which can scarcely 
be considered as conveying any sense ; as, currying favour, dancing 
attendance. 

Sixth. The idiomatical use that is sometimes made of certain verbs, 
renders their application reprehensible ; as, " he staiids upon secu- 
rity," for " he insists ;" — and take for " understand ;" as, " you take 
me," and " I take it ;" — and hold for " continue ;" as " he does not 
hold long in one mind." 

Seventh. The worst are those, in which the words, when construed, 
are not susceptible of any meaning ; as, " there were seven ladies in 
the company, every one prettier than another ;" which means, that 
they were all very pretty. But one prettier, implies that there is an- 
other less pretty Now where every one is prettier, there can be none 
less, and consequently none more pretty 

Corol. Ambitiously to display nonsensical phrases of this sort, un- 
der the ridiculous notion of a familiar and easy manner, is not to set 
off the riches of a language, but to expose its rags. As such idioms,, 
therefore, err alike against purity, simplicity, perspicuity, and ele- 
gance, they are entitled to no quarter from those who may deem the 
foregoing canons of any weight in the art of composition. 

Scholium. The first five of these canons are intended to suggest the 
principles by which our choice ought to be directed in cases wherein 
use itself is wavering; and the four last, to point out those further 
improvements of construction, which verbal criticism, without exceed- 
ing her legal powers, may assist in producing. There is a danger, 
however, lest our improvements this way be carried too far, and 
our mother tongue, by being too much impaired, be impoverished, and 
so more injured in copiousness and nerves, than all our refinement 
will ever be able to compensate. For this reason there ought, in strp> 



The Nature and Use of Verbal Criticism* 65 

port of every sentence of proscription, to be an evident plea from the 
principles of perspicuity, elegance and harmony. 

104. The foregoing reasoning furnishes a tenth canon* 
Whatever be the opinion of some grammarians, the want of 
etymology cannot be reckoned a sufficient ground for the 
suppression of a significant term, which hath come into good 
use. 

Obs. It were as unreasonable to reject, on this account, the assist- 
ance of an expressive word, that opportunely offers its service, when 
perhaps no other word would so exactly answer our purpose, as to re- 
fuse, in common life, the needful aid of a proper person, because he 
could give no account of his family or pedigree. 

Illus. Though what is called cant, is generally, not necessarily, not 
always without etymology, it is not the defect, but the baseness of the 
use, which fixeth on it that disgraceful appellation. No absolute mon- 
arch hath it more in his power to ennoble a person of obscure birth, 
than it is in the power of good use to exalt words of low or dubious 
extraction. 

Examples. Fib, banter, fop, fudge, have arisen from hovels no one 
knows how ; and flimsy, from the cant of a workshop. 

Carol. It is never from attention to etymology, which would fre- 
quently mislead us, but from custom, the only infallible guide in this 
matter, that the meanings of words in present use must be learned; 
(Art. 76. and T7.) 

105. What has now been said on this topic, relates only 
to such words as bear no distinguishable traces of the base- 
ness of their source ; the case is quite different in regard to 
those terms, which may be said to proclaim their vile and 
despicable origin ; and that either by associating disagree- 
able and unsuitable ideas, or by betraying some frivolous 
humour in their formation. 

Examples. Belly limber, thorowstitch, and dumbfound, are of the 
former ; and transmogrify, bamboozle, helterskelter, arc of the latter 
class. Yet most of these words are to be found iu " Walker's 
Critical Pronouncing Dictionary." 

Obs. These may find a place in burlesque, but ought never to 6how 
themselves in any serious performance. A person of no birth, as the 
phrase is, may be raised to the rank of nobility, and, which is more* 
may become it ; but nothing can add dignity to that man, or fit him 
for the company of gentlemen, who bears indelible marks of the 
cjown in his look, gait, and whole behaviour. 



64 Grammatical Purity, 



CHAPTER IV. 



OF GRAMMATICAL PURITY. 

106. PURE English composition implies three things*: 
Srt, 87.) 

First, that the words be English. (Art. 82.; 

Secondly, that their construction, under which, in our 
tongue, arrangement also is comprehended, be in the Eng- 
lish idiom. (General Principles, p. 55.) 

Thirdly, that the words and phrases be employed to ex- 
press the precise meaning, which custom hath affixed to 
them. (Art. 76.) 

Obs. In the foregoing- definition, we have substituted the phrase, 
(i pure English,"' for grammatical purity ; and this we have df.ne for 
two especial reasons: 1st. Because it is the language in which we 
write; aud 2dly. Because the language of Britain is capable of that 
grammatical purity, and those higher qualities of elocution, and ora- 
torical excellence, which give grace and energy to discourse. 

107. Since purity implies three things, it may be violated 
in three different ways : 

First, the words may not be English. 

This fault is denominated a barbarism. 

Secondly, the construction of the sentence may not be in 
the English idiom. 

This fault has gotten, the name of solecism. 

Thirdly, the words and phrases may not be employed to 
express the precise meaning, which custom hath affixed to 
them. 

This fault is termed an impropriety? 

108. The reproach of barbarism may be incurred in 
three different ways r — 

1st. By the use of words entirely obsolete: 
2dly. By the use of words entirely new ; or 
3d!y. By new formations and compositions, from simple 
and primitive words in present use. 

Illtis. 1. By the use of obsolete icunls. Obsolete woids are not now 
English, though they might have been so in the days of our forefathers. 
We cannot therefore introduce them. Foreign phrases have as much 

* This distribution is agreeable to QuiutUtao. Ii.stit. lib. i. tap. 5. « DeprcliendJU 
qux barbara. qua impropria, qua contra legem loquendi composita*" 



As it respects Barbarisms. C5 

claim to be introduced, as those antiquated words, without risking the 
charge of affectation. Thus, Thompson, in his " Castle of Indo- 
lence," has dragged from their obscurity many words which were al- 
most wholly unknown, except in Spenser's "Fairie Queene." 

Examples. Anon, behest, fantasy, cleped, erst, itneath, whilom, tri- 
bulation, ereiohile, ichenas, peradventure, selfsame, offend more or less 
against Article 86. and its illustration. 

2. Poets claim exemption from this rule of never using any words 
but those which are English, particularly on account of the peculiar 
inconveniences to which the laws of versification subject them. (//- 
Ins. 2. Art. 86.) 

3. Besides, in treating some topics, passages of ancient story, for 
instance, there may sometimes be found a suitableness in the intro- 
duction of old words. 

4. In certain kinds of style, when used sparingly and with judg- 
ment, they serve to add the venerable air of antiquity to the narrative. 

5. In burlesque also they often produce a good effect. But purity 
requires that those words only shall be employed which are of classical 
authority ; and they who are ambitious to speak and write with ele- 
gance, will select as their guides, in conversation and oratory, speak- 
ers of the best elocution, and authors of the most correct taste, solid 
matter, and refined manner, will form their patterns in writing. Clas- 
sical authority, the standard by which our practice must be regulated, 
is none other than the example of such speakers and writers. {Art. 
80. lllus.) 

109. The use of new words inundates a language with a 
numerous tribe of barbarisms. A licentious affectation of 
novelty rather than any necessity to avoid circumlocutions, 
overwhelms our language with foreign words. (Art. 85.) 

Examples. JVumerosity, cognition, irrefragibility, effluxion, are 
from the Latin, and convey no new meanings, which had not been 
pre-occupied by other words of established reputation. And among 
our French imports we have dernier resort, beaux arts, belles lelires, 
and H legion besides, which some of our own writers, otherwise re- 
spectable, have fancied so many gems, capable of adding a wonderful 
lustre to their works. 

Obs. 1. But this is a false brilliancy, which dazzles only those who 
forget that the Greeks branded a foreign term, in any of their writers, 
with the odious name of barbarism. Besides, the rules of pronuncia- 
tion and orthography in French, are so different from those which ob- 
tain in English, that the far greater part of the French words yearly 
introduced, constitute so many anomalies with us, which, by loading 
the grammatical rules with exceptions, greatly corrupt the simplicity 
and regularity of our tongue.* 

Corol. Two considerations ought to weigh with writers, and hinder 
them from wantonly admitting into their performances, such extrane- 
ous productions. One is, if these foreigners be allowed to settle 
amongst us, they will infallibly supplant the old inhabitants. What- 
ever ground is given to the one, is so much taken away from the other. 
No writer, therefore, ought to foment an humour of innovation which 

* Sec ' ; Principles of English Pronunciation," prefacing' '-Walker's Dictionary.' 1 



$6 Grammatical Purity, 

tends to make the language of his country still more changeable, and 
consequently, to render the style of hjs own writings sooner obsolete. 

2. The other consideration is, that if he should not be followed iu 
•the use of those foreign words which he hath endeavoured to usher into 
the language, if they meet not with a favourable reception from the 
public, they will ever appear as spots in his compositions. Whether, 
therefore, he be or he not imitated, he will himself prove a loser in the 
end. Moreover, as borrowing naturally exposeth to the suspicion of 
poverty, this poverty will much more readily, and more justly too, be 
imputed to the writer than to the language. 

In words, as fashions, the same rule wiil hold ; 
Alike fantastic, if too new or old ; 
Be not the first by whom the new are tried, 
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.* 

J 10. By the use of good words new modelled. The third 
species of barbarism, is that produced by new formations 
and compositions from primitives in present use. 

Illus. 1. Greater liberty ought to be given on this article than on 
the former, provided the English analogy be observed in the composi- 
tion, and the new modelled word be wanted in the language. (Art. 
104. and its Illus.) 

.2. Never, on the plea of necesssity, patronise frivolous innovations ; 
nor the collision of words which are naturally the most unfit for coa- 
lescing, and where the analogy of the formation exhibits only an ob- 
scure meaning till it be analysed. Rest assured this jargon will not 
creep into vogue in the charter language of the present age. (Art. 77. 
and 86.) 

3. Another modern refinement is, the alteration that has been made, 
by some late writers, on proper names, and some other words of for- 
eign extraction, and on their derivatives, on pretence of bringing them 
nearer, both in pronunciation and in spelling, to the original names, as 

they appear in the language from which those words were taken. 

But this hath been the custom of all nations. When the Grecians and 
Romans introduced a foreign name into their languages, they made 
such alterations in it, as might facilitate the pronunciation to their 
own people, and render it more analogous to the other words of their 
tongue. 

4. Another set of barbarisms, which also comas under this class, ari- 
ses from the abbreviations of polysyllables, by lopping off all the syl- 
lables except the first, or the first and second." 

Examples. Hyp for " hypochondriac," ult for " ultimate," extra 
for " extraordinary." 

Scholium. The two classes of barbarisms last mentioned, compre- 
hending new words and new formations, from words still current, 
offend against use, considered both as reputable and as national. — 
(Art. 77. and 85 J A writer who employs antiquated or novel phrase- 
ology, must do it with design : he cannot err from inadvertence, as he 
may do with respect to provincial or vulgar expressions. He can- 
not be habituated to antiquated or novel words and phrases. It is ha- 
bit that renders it so difficult to avoid those which are provincial or 
vulgar. How much soever folly or vanity may actuate the herd of 

* Pope's Essay on Criticism. 



v is it respects Solecism. 67 

Scribblers, whose greatest struggle is to insinuate a favorable opinion 
of their erudition, the writer of true genius and taste will not expect to 
obtain reputation by such artifices He will neither discolour his style 
by the faint tinge of antiquity or novelty, nor by the coarse daubing 
of provinciality and vulgarity. 

111. The Solecism. The transgression of any of the 
syntactic rules is a solecism ; and there are various ways in 
which almost every rule'may be transgressed. 

Tllus. 1. Leaving it to grammarians to exemplify and class the fla- 
grant solecisms which betray ignorance in the rudiments of the lan- 
guage ; we proceed to take notice of a few less observable, which wri- 
ters of great reputation, and even of critical skill in the language, have 
slidden into through inattention. 

2. Solecisms are more excusable than barbarisms ; the former are 
usually reckoned the effect of negligence : the latter of affectation. — 
Negligence, often the consequence of a noble ardour in regard to sen- 
timents, is, at the worst, a venial trespass, and sometimes it is not eveu 
without energy ; affectation is always a deadly sin against the laws of 
rhetoric. (Obs. Art. 85J 

3. Much greater indulgence, in the article of solecisms, is given to 
the speaker than to the writer ; and to the writer who proposeth to 
persuade or move, greater allowances are made, than to him who pro- 
poseth barely to instruct or please. The more vehemence is required 
by the nature of the subject, the less correctness is exacted in the 
manner of treating it. Nay, a slight deficiency in this respect is not 
nearly so prejudicial to the scope of an oration, as a scrupulous accu- 
racy, which bears in it the symptoms of study and art. 

Coral. Grammatical inaccuracies ought to be avoided by a writer, 
for two reasons : First, because a reader will much sooner discover 
them than a hearer, how attentive soever he may be. Secondly, 
as writing implies more leisure and greater coolness than speaking, 
defects of this kind, when discovered in the former, will be less excused 
than they would be in the latter. 

Of the various solecisms which may be committed, we have 

1. A mistake of the plural number for the singular. 

II. Inaccuracies in the construction and application of the degrees of 
comparison suggest the following rules : 

Illus. 1. The comparative degree implies commonly a coinparisovi 
of ©ne thing with one other thing ; the superlative, on the contrary, al- 
ways implies a comparison of one thiDg with many others. The for- 
mer consequently requires to be followed by the singular, the latter by 
the plural, yet in the sentence, " He is wiser than we," the compara- 
tive is rightly followed by a plural. 

2. In a comparison of equality, though the positive degree only is 
used, the construction must be similar to that of the comparative, both 
being: followed by, conjunctions which govern no case. 

3. The particles, as after the positive, and than after the compara- 
tive, are conjunctions and not prepositions. For example, " I esteem 
you more than they,' is correct ; and so is the sentence, u 1 esteem you 
raoi-e than them," but in a sense quite different from the former^ince 



68 Grammatical Purity, 

in the one case it expresses their esteem for you, anil in the other mg 
esteem for them. 

Carol: The second canon (Art. 91.) which teaches us to prefer what is 
most agreeable to analogy, leads us to decide that than is a conjunction 

4. The superlative, followed by tiie singular number, is ah error 
which may be corrected by substituting the comparative in room of 
the superlative. 

III. Possessive pronouns must always agree in number and person 
with their antecedents. 

IV. Mistakes in the tenses of the verbs suggest many rales. 

Rule. 1. When in two connected clauses the first verb is in the pre 
sent or the future, the second, which is dependent on if, cannot be in 
the past. 

2. On the contrary, when the first verb is in the preterite the se- 
cond ought to be so too. 

3. When the first verb is in the preterperfect, the second may be in 
the preterimperfect. 

4. In expressing abstract or universal truths, according to the idiom 
of our language, the present tense of the verb ought always to be used : 
because the verb, in such cases, has no relation to time, but serves 
merely as a copula to the two terms of the proposition.* 

5. When speaking of a past event which occasions the mention of 
some general truth, never use the same tense in enunciating the gen- 
eral truth, with that which had been employed in the preceding part 
ofthe sentence. 

6. The construction of two verbs, both under the regimen ofthesame 
conjunction if. requires both the verbs to be in the subjunctive mood. 

7. Never omit, in a subsequent part of a sentence, the participle 
which makes part ofthe complex tense, from an idea that the occur- 
rence of a verb in a former clause of the sentence will supply the defect. 

8. Never couple words together, and assign to them a common re- 
gimen, when use will not admit that they be construed in the same 
manner. 

Illus. " Will it be urged that the four gospels are as old, or even el- 
der than tradition!" The words as old and older cannot have a com- 
mon regimen. The one requires to be followed by the conjunction as, 
the other by than. 

V. The connexion between the preposition and the noun or pro- 
noun governed by it, is so intimate, that there cannot be a reference to 
the one without the other The words to ichichm-e rightly construed with 
the passive participle, but the construction is which with the active verb. 

VI. The repetition ofthe relative, in all sentences, makes the inser- 
tion of the personal pronoun necessary. 

Iflus. Beth these rules are transgressed in the sentence, <• few tal- 
ents to which most men are not boru, or at least may not acquire," 
which ought to run thus, « or u-hich at least they may not acquire." 

Corol. A part of a complex tense means nothing without the rest of 
the tense ; therefore the rest ofthe tense ought always to be found in 
the sentence. " 

VII. In the syntax of nouns, expressions which can onlv be right!. - 
construed with a preposition, should never be without their proper 
regimen. 

* In logic the copula is the word which unites the subject and predicate of a propo- 
sition. 

t Boliab. Phil. Ess. IV. c. :9. 



vJs it respects Impropriety mid Idiotism. 69 

V1TI. As regularity in the management of prepositions implies a pro- 
ber choice of these particles, their omission is a great blemish when 
their presence is required. 

The wrong choice of prepositions suggests the necessity of not using 
as synonymous such as rarely admit the same conslruciion. 

IX. Inaccuracies in the applications of the conjunctions and ad- 
verbs, arise from want of attention to those littie things which ought 
not to be altogether disregarded by any writer. 

Coral. The words of the language constitute the materials with 
which the orator must work.; the rules of the language teach him by 
what management those materials asv rendered useful. But purity is 
rising rightly the words of the language by a careful observance of the 
rules. It is, therefore, justly considered as essential to all the other 
graces of expression. Hence, not only perspicuity and vivacity, but 
even elegance and animation derive a lustre. 

112. The impropriety is the third and last class of 
faults against purity- The barbarism is an offence against 
etymology, the solecism against syntax, the impropriety 
against lexicography. 

Obs, The impropriety, tfeen, may be in application of single words, 
or of phrases ; but as none but those who are grossly ignorant of our 
tongue, can misapply the words thai have no affinity to those whose 
place they are made to occupy, we shall only take notice of those im- 
proprieties, into which a writer is apt unwarily to be seduced by some 
resemblance or proximity in sound or sense, or both. 

I. By proximity of sound some are misled to use the word observa- 
tion for " observance." When to observe signifies " to remark;" the 
verbal noun is observation, when it signifies '* to obey," or " to keep," 
the verbal is observance. 

II. Endurance for " duration." The former properly signifies " pa- 
tience" as applied to suffering ; the latter means " lasting" as applied 
to time. 

HI. Ceremonious and " ceremonial" are distinguished thus : they 
come from the same noun ceremony, which signifies both a form of ci- 
vility, and a religious rite. The epithet expressive of the first signifi- 
cation-is eevtmoniovs^ of the second ceremonial. 

IV. When genius denotes mental abilities, its plural is " geniuses,' 
und not genii, a term which denolcs spirits or demons, good or bad. 

113. Of improprieties arising from a similitude in sense, 
we have, 

I. Veracity, used for " reality." In strict propriety the word is on- 
ly applicable to persons, and signifies not physical, but moral truth. 

II. Invention, for "discovery." One discovers truth; another in- 
vents falsehoods. A machinist invents, an observer discovers. 

III. Verdict, for "testimony." A. witness gives his testimony; the 
fury give their verdict. 

IV. Risible, for " ridiculous." The former hath an active, the latr 
ter a passive signification. Thus,- we say, " man is a risible animal," 
■ ci A fop is a ridiculous character." 

V. The word together often supplies the place of successively. The 
resemblance which' continuity in time bears to continuity in jjlace, is 
■the source of this impropriety. When the Spectator.says, ' ; I do not 



70 Grammatical Purity, 

remember that I ever spoke three sentences together in my whole Iife/"^ 
propriety teaches his reader to substitute successively for " together,'' 

VI. Everlasting for " eternity." The only proper sense of the for- 
mer word is time without end ; the latter denotes lime, without begin- 
?iing. 

VII. apparent, for " certain," " manifest," is often equivocal. By 
analogy, seeming is opposed to real ; visible to concealed. And hence, 
also, " to make appear," for to prove, to evince, to show, is improper. 
A sophist may make a thing- appear to be what it is not ; but this is 
very different from showing what it is. 

114. The idiotism, or the employing of an English word 
in a sense which it bears in some provincial dialect, in low 
and partial use, or which, perhaps the corresponding word 
bears in some foreign tongue, but unsupported by general 
use in our own language, belongs to the class of improprie- 
ties now under consideration. (Art. 102.J 

1. Impracticable for " impassable," when applied to roads, is an ap- 
plication which suits the French, but not the English idiom. 

II. Decompound for " analyse." To decompound is " to compound 
of materials already compounded :" to analyse is to resolve a com- 
pound into its first principles. 

JIT. To arrive for '•' happen," We arrive at a place, but misfortunes 
luappen to man. 

IV. To hold should never be employed for " to use" ; nor to give into 
for "to adopt," 

Obs. Gallicisms, Latinisms, and vulgarisms, result from affectation, 
pedantry, and ignorance. (Obs. Art. So.) 

V. The Pleonasm, coupled with ambiguity, is the highest degree of" 
idiomalical expression ; as, "the general report is, that he should hare- 
said;" for, "that he said." What a man said, is often very different 
from what he should have said ; hence the pleonasm of the auxiliaries, 
'•' should have," conveys also an ambiguity. 

Obs. These remarks on the idiotism, do not extend to satire and bur- 
lesque, (Obs. Art. 105.) in which a vulgar, or even what is called a cant 
expression, will sometimes be more emphatical than any proper terin 
whatever ; as in these lines of Pope : 

Whether the charmer sinner it or saint it. 
If folly glows romantic, I must paint it. 

VI. The derivatives falseness, falsity, falsehood, from the root false, 
are often by mistake employed for one another, though in the best use 
they are evidently distinguished. 

Jllus. 1. Falseness is properly used, in a moral sense, for want of 
veracity, and applied only to persons : the other two are applied only 
to things. 

2. Falsity denotes that quality in the abstract, which may be denned 
contrariety to truth, as an error arising in a demonstration from false 
premises in the proposition. 

3. Falsehood is an untrue assertion. 

VII. Negligence is improperly used for "neglect." The former im- 
plies habit, the latter denotes act. 

VIII. Conscience for " consciousness." The former denotes the fac- 
ulty, the latter a particular exertion. 



as it respects the Idiotism and Vulgarism. 71 

TX. Sophism, for" sophistry." The former denotes a. fallacious ar* 
gument, the latter fallacious reasoning. 

X. Remember, for " remind." We are reminded by others: we re- 
member of ourselves. 

XI. Plenty, for " plentiful." The latter is an adjective, the former, 
a noun. The misapplication of either is a tross vulgarism. 

XII. Doctrines, for " precepts." The former are credenda, which 
we are required to believe ; the latter, we are called on to obey, as 
rules of life. 

115. The vulgarism springs from an affectation of an 
easy, familiar, and careless manner of writing ; but it is an 
error to imagine, that the less pains one bestows upon style, 
it must appear the more natural. 

Obs. 1. Ease is one thing, carelessness another ; and the former is 
most commonly the result of the greatest care. It is like ease in mo- 
tion, which, though originally the effect of discipline, when once it 
hath become habitual, has a more simple and more natural appear- 
ance, than is to be observed in any manner which untutored nature 
ejwi produce. 

But ease in writing flows from art, not chance ; 
As those move easiest who have learnt to dance.* 

116. The love of novelty, and a fondness for variety, are 
the two sources whence flow those numerous inadvertencies 
with which the style of many writers is chargeable. (Art. 
78, IUus.) 

Illus. 1. The former, when excessive, tends directly to misguide us, 
by making us disdain the beaten track, for no other reason but because 
it is the beaten track. The idea of vulgarity, in the imaginations of 
those who are affected with this principle, is connected with every 
thiug that is conceived as customary. The genuine issue of this ex- 
treme, is, not only improprieties, but even absurdities, and fustian and 
bombast. 

2. The latter, to wit, a fondness for variety, produceth often the 
same effect, though more indirectly. It begets an immoderate dread 
of becoming tedious, by repeating too frequently the same sound. In 
order to avoid this, a writer resolves, at any rate, to diversify his 
style, let it cost what it will. But this fancied excellence usually costs 
more than it is worth ; for to it, very often, propriety and perspicuity 
are both sacrificed. 

Obs. From these illustrations, we derive the following criteria : — 

Crit. I. The mind is fatigued by the frequent recurrence of the same 
idea : that performance which grows dull as we advance, is charge- 
able with an excess of uniformity. 

Corol. If, therefore, there be a remarkable paucity of ideas, a diver- 
sity of words will not answer the purpose, or give to the work the ap- 
pearance of variety. 

II. On the contrary, when an author is at great pains to vary his 
expressions, and for this purpose ever deserts the common road, he 
wilL to an intelligent reader, but the more expose his poverty, the more 

* Pope's Imitations. 

7" 



— 



^2 Impropriety in Phrases and Precision. 

he is solicitous to conceal it. You will discover this penury, wheti ar 
author is always recurring to such words as custom hath appropria- 
ted to purposes different from those for which we use them. 

117. Impropriety in phrases is ascertained, when the 
expression, on being grammatically analysed, is discovered 
to contain some inconsistency. 

Illus. Is Such is the phrase of all others, after the superlative degree, 
which, when interpreted by the rules of English syntax, implies a 
thing different from itself; 'as it " celebrates the Church of England 
as the most perfect of all others."* Properly, either — " a^ more per- 
fect than any other ;" — or, " as the most perfect of all churches." 

2. On this principle, Milton falls into an impropriety ia these 
words : — 

- » Adam, 

The comeliest man of men since born 

His sons. The fairest of her daughters, Eve."f 

The loveliest pair 
That ever since in love's embraces met4 

3. The general laws of the language, which constitute the most ex- 
tensive and important use, may be pleaded against these expressions. 
Now it is one principal method of purifying a language, to lay aside 
such idioms as are inconsistent with its radical principles and consti- 
tuent rules ; or as, when interpreted by such principles and rules, ex- 
hibit manifest nonsense. Nor does the least inconvenience result from 
this conduct, as we can be at no loss to find expressions -of our mean- 
ing altogether as natural, and entirely unexceptionable. 

4. " Than the rest of our neighbours," is an impropriety which may 
be corrected by omitting" the words in Italics. And when Swift, in his 
voyage to Brobdignag, says, " I had like to have gotten one or two 
broken heads ;" one unavoidably asks, -' how many heads he had on 
his body ?" That " once or twice" he had like to have got his head 
broken for his impertinence, one can easily conceive. 

5. One thing may be cut into two or more ; but it is inconceivable, 
that by cutting, two or more things should be made one. We cannot 
therefore speak of shortening discourse, " by cutting potysyllables 
into one§." 

<>. A wrong, wilfully committed, is no mistake. The words used in 
the following sentence, are therefore incompatible : — " I have not wil- 
fully committed the least mistake ||." 

7. A pure limpid stream cannot also be foul with stains ; therefore 
the following lines, 

So the pure limpid stream, when foul ibith stains, 
Of rushing torrents and descending rains?, 

involve in them an absurdity, rather than an impropriety. 

8. When an author says one thing and means another, his fault may 
be classed with impropriety in phrases ; or it may come under the ar- 
ticle of perspicuity. 

9. It is an incongruity in the combination of words, to speak of 
;'• falling into a man's conversation** ;" and to "fall into conversation 

* Swift's Apology for the Tale of a Tub. t Paradise Lost. t Ibid. b. W- 

§ " Voyage to Laputa." || Swift's •' Remarks on the Barrier Treat}*.'' 

*} Addison's Cato. ** Spectator, No. 49. 



Impropriety in Phrases and Precision. T3 

wiih a man*," is little bettor than the impropriety in another dress ;- 
for grammatical purity, the most essential of all the virtues of elocu- 
tion, would teach another construction. 

118. Precision is the last ingredient of perspicuity, 
Precision means, that all redundant phraseology shall, with- 
out hesitation, be expunged ; and that no more words and 
phrases, however pure and proper, shall be employed, than 
are necessary to convey the meaning. 

Illus. The exact import of precision," may be drawn from the ety- 
mology of the word. It comes from *' praecidere," to cut off: it im- 
ports retrenching 1 al! superfluities, and pruning- the expression so as to 
exhibit neither more or less than an exact copy of his idea who uses it, 
It is often difficult to separate the quantities of style from the 'qualities 
of thought ; and it is found so in this instance ; for, in order to write 
with precision, though this be properly a quality of style, one must 
possess a very considerable degree of distinctness and accuracy in his 
manner of thinking. (Art. 74. Carol.) 

119. The words which a man uses to express his ideas 
may be faulty in three respects ; they may either not ex- 
press that idea which the author intends, but some other 
which only resembles, or is a-kin to it ; or, they may ex- 
press that idea, but not quite fully and completely ; or," they 
may express it, together with something more than he in- 
tends. 

Illus. 1. Precision stands opposed to all these three faults; but chief- ' 
]y to the last. In an author's writing with propriety, his being free 
from the two former faults seems implied. The words which he uses 
are proper ; that is, they express that idea which he intends, and they 
express it fully : but to be precise, signifies, that they express that* 
idea, and no more. There is nothing in his words which introduces 
any foreign idea, any superfluous, imseasonablc accessory, so as to 
mix it confusedly with the principal object, and thereby to render our 
conception of that object loose and indistinct. This requires a writer 
to have, himself, a very clear apprehension of the object he means to 
represent to us ; to have laid fast hold of it in his mind ; and never to 
waver in any one view he takes of it ; -a perfection to which, indeed, 
few writers attain. 

2. The following examples possess all the ingredients now specified, 
" Those who live in the world, and in good company, are quicksight- 
ed with regard to every defect or singularity in behaviour ; the slight- 
est irregularity in motion, in speech, or in dress, which, to a peasant, 
would be invisible, escapes not their observation." — " The very pop- 
ulace in Athens, were critics in pronunciation, in language, and even 
in eloquence ; and in Rome at present, the most illiterate shop-keeper 
is a better judge of statues and of pictures, than many persons of re- 
fined education in Londonf." No word or phrase is wanting } no 
word or phrase is superfluous ; all are pure and all are proper. 

* Campbell's Phil, of Rhet. Vol. I Book ii. Chap. iii. 
t Lord Kame's Elements of Criticism. 



74 (Grammatical Purity 

120. The use and importance of precision, may be dedu 
ced from the nature of the human mind. It can never view, 
clearly and distinctly, above one object at a time. If it 
must look at two or three together, especially objects among 
which there is a resemblance or connexion, it finds itself 
confused and embarrassed. It cannot clearly perceive in 
what they agree, and in what they differ- 

Illus. Thus, were any object, suppose some animal, to be presented 
to me, of whose structure 1 wanted to form a distinct notion, I would 
desire all its trapping's to be taken off, I would require it to be brought 
before me by itself, and to stand alone, that there might be nothing to 
distract my attention. The same is the case with words. If, when 
you would inform me of your meaning, you also tell me more than 
what conveys it ; if you join foreign circumstances to the principal 
object; if, by unnecessarily varying the expression, you shift the 
point of view, and make me see sometimes the object itself, and some- 
times another thing that is connected with it ; you thereby oblige 
me to look on several objects at once, and I lose sight of the principal. 
You load the animal you are shewing- me, with so many trappings and 
collars, and bring so many of the same species before me, somewhat 
resembling, and yet somewhat differing, that .1 see none of them 
clearly.* 

121. This forms what is called a loose style ; and is the 
proper opposite to precision. It generally arises from using- 
a superfluity of words. Feeble writers employ a multitude 
of words to make themselves understood, as they think, 
more distinctly ; and they only confound the reader. 

Ilhis. They are sensible of not having caught the precise expression, 
to convey what they would signify ; they do not, indeed, conceive 
their own meaning very precisely themselves : and, therefore, help it 
out, as they can, by this and the other word, which may, as they sup- 
pose, supply the defect, and bring you somewhat nearer to their idea : 
they are always going about it and about it, but never just hit the 
thing. The image, as they set it before you, is always seen double ; 
and no double image is distinct. When an author tells me of his 
hero's courage in the day of battle, the expression is precise, and I 
understand it fully. But if, from the desire of multiplying words, he 
must needs praise his courage and fortitude ; at the moment he joins 
these words together, my idea begins to waver. He means to express 
one quality more strongly ; but he is, in truth, expressing two. Cou- 
rage resists danger ; fortitude supports pain. The occasion of exert- 
ing each of these qualities is different ; and being led to think of both 
together, when only one of them should be before me, my view is ren- 
dered unsteady, and my conception of the objects indistinct, 

Corol. From what has been said, it appears that an author may, in 
a qualified sense, be perspicuous, while yet he is far from being pre- 
cise Hexises proper words, and proper arrangement ; he gives you 
the idea as clear as he conceives it himself ; and so far he is perspic- 
uous > but the ideas are not very clear in his own mind ; they are 

* Blair's Lect. on Rhet. Vol. I. 



as it respects Precision. T5 

' foose and general ; and, therefore, catnnot be expressed with precision. 
All subjects do not equally require precision. It is sufficient, on many 
occasions, that we have a general view of the meaning The subject, 
perhaps, is of the known and familiar kind ; and we are in no hazard 
of mistaking the sense of the author, though every word which he uses 
be not precise and exact. 

122. Precision is frequently violated by the introduction 
of supernumerary words and phrases, (Illus. \,and 2.) ; but 
chiefly by the accumulation of those which are either nearly 
synonymous, or which, though not synonymous, include the 
signification of one another. (Ajtt. 123.) 

Illus. 1. " I should be glad to know what intervals of life suek per- 
sons can possibly set apart for the improvement of their minds*." The 
adverb possibly is superfluous. It suggests no meaning not implied in 
the auxiliary can, which denotes ail the power or capacity of an agent. 

2. " The pleasures of imagination are more preferable than those of 
sense or intellectf." — " The very slightest singularity!." More is su- 
perfluous, when added to preferable, and very is the same when added 
to slightest. Preferable, and slightest, express every idea contained in 
more preferable, and very slightest. These redundances are derived 
from conversation, the vulgarities and inaccuracies of which frequent- 
ly insinuate themselves insensibly into our written language. 

123. The more frequent violations of precision, those 
indeed more difficult to be avoided and corrected, are of the 
second class, and appear when words or phrases are intro- 
duced, which have their meaning anticipated by the general 
sense, or by other words of the sentence. 

Illus. 1. Horace himself is not altogether unexceptionable. 

" Quod si me vatibus Lyricis inseres, 
Sublimi feriam sidera vertice." 

The adjective sublimi is perfectly agreeable in sound, nay, necessary 
to complete the versification, but it is superfluous in communicating 
the sense ; because, after acquainting us that his head would strike 
Jhe stars, the poet had no need to add, that it would be raised very high. 
-2. Addison begins the tragedy of Cato with a series of tautologies, 

" The dawn is overcast, the morning low'rs, 
And heavily in clouds brings on the day, 
The great, the important day, big with "the fate 
Of Cato and of Rome." 

In the first two lines, the same sentiment is three times repeated in 
different words. " The dawn is overcast," means no more than " the 
morning lowers," and both these phrases denote exactly the same 
sense with the line that follows, " and heavily in clouds brings on the 
day." Three synonymous words appear in the third line ; " The great, 
the important day, big with the fate." The author might as well have 
repeated any one of these words three times, had it not been for the 
sake of the measure. 

3. What is farther remarkable, is, that this example points out one 
,pf the classical sources from which Addison derived many of the splen> 

•Swift, t Addison. | Elements of Criticism, 



6 Grammatical Purity, 



did sentiments of this work. Lncan introduces the day on which the 
battle of Pharsalia was fought, in terms, which leave no room to doubt, 
that Addison had the description in his " mind's eye," when he began 
the tragedy of Cato. 

<; Segnior oceano quam lex eterna vocabat, 
Luctificus Titan, liunquam rioagis ajthera contra 
Egit equos. currumque, polo rapiente, retorsit. 
Defectusque pati volnit, raptteque labores 
Lucis ; et attraxit nubes, non pabtila liammi; 
Sed ue Thessalico purus laceiet in orbe." 

It was unlucky that Addison could appropriate no circumstance of 
?his magnificent description, but the one he has selected : the dark- 
ness of the morning, resulting from the quantity and thickness of the 
clouds, which induced him, perhaps, to dwell on it to excess. 

Obs.1. Cicero, in his orations to the people, seems to have been 
guided by the opinion, that full, flowing, and copio.is diction, was most 
congruous to the taste, and best adapted to lead the resolutions, of a 
popular audience ; but, that it was less correct in itself, that it was un- 
suitable to the oratory of the senate, and that it was still more discord- 
ant with the sUle of his philosophical and critical works. 

2, His great master, Demosthenes, in addressing similar audiences, 
never had recourse to a similar expedient. He avoided redundances, 
?ts equivocal and feeble. He "aimed only to make the deepest and most 
efficient impression ; a«d he employed for this purpose, the plainest, 
the fewest, and the most emphatic words. " Supernumerary words 
may swell a period, or captivate the car, but they must diminish the 
effect upon the understanding or the heart."* (§ V.p. 70.) 

Illus, 1. In support of these remarks, we shall select some passages 
Iron) the orations of Cicero against Cataline, addressed to the people. 

" Multi saepe honores diis immortalibus, jnsti, habiti sunt, ac debiti ; 
sed profecto justiores nunquam. Erepti enim ex crudeKssimo ac mi- 
serrimo intentu, et erepti sine csede, sine sanguine, sine exercitu, sine 
dimicatione, me uno, togato duce et imperatore, vicistis." 

The words, " cosde, sanguine, exercitu, dimicatione," are not synon- 
ymous, yet do they virtually include the meaning of one another, and 
•therefore multiply words, without impressing or extending the mean- 
ing, without completing or embellishing the picture. 

Again. If there was no slaughter, it was unnecessary to add, that 
no blood was shed ; and if there was no army, there could be neither 
slaughter, blood, nor fighting. He might as well have subjoined many 
■other puerilities ; as, " without marching, without swords, without 
dust, without fatigue." Besides the quaintness of supposing himself a 
general " without an army," expressed in the clause, " me uno, toga- 
to duce et imperatore," dace and imperatore are perfectly synonymous, 
and one of them is therefore superfluous. 

2. " Neque ijos unquam, dum Hie in urbe hostis fuisset, tantis peri- 
eulis rempublicam, tanta pace, tanto otio, tanto silentio, liberassemus." 
The words, " otio. silentio. pace," like those specified in the preceding 
example, all imply the signification of one another : they swell the pe- 
riod ; they detain the same idea in view ; but they convey no additional 
information. 

3. Tiiiotbvjn is among the most remarkable of English writers of re- 
putation, for the profuse use of synonymous terms} as, for example^ 
Che following. 

* Barrow. 



as it respects Precision. 7< 

' f Acquiesce, and rest satisfied with." — " Upon the testimony and 
relation of others."---*' Governed and conducted." — " Corruption and 
degeneracy." — " Embroiled and disordered." — " Wavering and un- 
settled." — •' Apprehensions and fear?.'' — " Support and bear up." — 
;i Positive and peremptory." — li Special and particular." 

4. Even some late authors of great eminence, will not, perhaps, be 
admitted to be altogether exempt from reprehension. "1 am certain 
and confident, that the account 1 have given is true." — " Many excur- 
-ions, fortuitous and unguided, have been made." — " A word is unfa- 
miliar l>y disuse, and unpleasant by uu familiarity." 

Jn the first of these examples, the words, "certain" and " confi- 
dent ;"' in the second, " fortuitous" and tl unguided j" and in the fhird, 
i: disuse" and " unfamiliarity," will be held by nice critics, to be either 
too nearly synonymous, or to include too much the meaning of one an- 
other, to permit, with propriety, their being placed in juxta-position in 
the same senlence. (Jhi. 113. § VII.) 

Scholia 1. It is observed by Barrow, that these accumulations of 
words may perhaps appear, in part, to result from the deficiency of 
language, which supplies not a pertinent word for every idea ; but they 
are much more the offspring of indistinct apprehension in the authors. 
When our ideas are not clear, our expression savours of similar em- 
barrassment. As we do not perceive completely what we intend to 
communicate, we multiply words, concluding, most erroneously, that 
the meaning is more fully and accurately expressed, and that the 
chance is greater of our being better understood. We do not attempt 
to remove the origin of the error — the obscurity of our thoughts ; we 
do not attend to this fact, that the deepest impression is made when no 
more words are employed than are necessary to convey the sense, and 
that every superfluous expression contributes to confound, not to en- 
lighten the understanding. <( Obstat quicquid non adjuvat."* 

2. But a considerable number of words, eilher synonymous, or near- 
ly so, in a language, is so far from being a blemish, or a cause of dis- 
order, that they are a source of much convenienev, and even of some 
pleasure. They enable us to infuse variety into style ; and to prevent 
the monotony which arises from the too frequent recurrence of the 
same sound These changes of words, and modulation, constitute the 
richness of a language, and the writer possesses important advantages, 
who finds his endeavours to improve his composition, seconded by the 
structure of the tongue which he employs. 

3. Yet the number of synonymous words is not so great in any lan- 
guage as is commonly supposed. Few people are at much pains to as- 
certain the meaning of the words they use ; or to inquire whether the 
sense which they affix to any word, is the most pertinent, or adopted 
by tlie most accurate judges. Even authors frequently assign their 
own meaning to their words, without inquiring scrupulously, whether 
it is the most classical, or the most proper. They generally infer:, 
thai the reader's opinion will coincide with their own, or that he will 
easily perceive the difference ; so that no ambiguity shall arise. 

4. For these reasons, synonymous words are supposed more numer- 
ous than they are, and much more so than nicetv of criticism trill ad- 
mit. Authors, on one hand, are careless in the meanings which they 
affix lo words. The critics, on the other, are too refined, in establish- 
ing meanings, which even accurate authors neither remembc" nor ap- 

* Qninctilian. 



re Grammatical Purity, 

ply. The labours of the critic may excite attention, and diminish im- 
proprieties ; but they cannot expect that practice will realize, in any 
language, the nice distinctions, or refined varieties, which they may 
have endeavoured to introduce. 

124. The instances which are given in the following illus- 
trations, may themselves be of use ; and they will serve to 
shew the necessity of attending, with care and strictness, to 
the exact import of words, if ever we would write with pro- 
priety or precision. 

Mm. 1. Austerity y severity, rigour. Austerity relates to the manner 
of living; severity, of thinking ; rigour, of punishing. To austerity, is 
opposed effeminacy ; to severity, relaxation ; to rigour, clemency. A 
hermit is austere in his life ; a casuist, severe in his application of re- 
pgion or law ; a judge, rigorous in his sentences. 

2. Custom, habit. Custom, respects the action ; habit, the actor. 
By custom, we mean the frequent repetition of the same act ; by habit, 
the effect which that repetition produces on the mind or body. By t-he 
custom of walking often in the streets, one acquires a habit of idleness. 

3. Surprised, astonished, amazed, confounded. I am surprised, with 
what is new or unexpected ; I am astonished, at what is vast or great ; 
I am amazed, with what is incomprehensible ; I am confounded, by 
what is shocking or terrible. 

4. Desist, renounce, quit, leave off. Each of these words implies, 
some pursuit or object relinquished ; but from different motives. Wc 
desist, from the difficulty of accomplishing. We renouince, on account 
of the disagreeableness of the object, or pursuit. We quit, for the 
sake of some other thing which interests us more ; and we leave off, 
because we are weary of the design. A politician desists from his de- 
signs, when he finds they are impracticable ; he renounces the court, 
because he has been affronted by it ; he quits ambition for study or 
retirement ; and leaves off his attendance on the great, as he becomes 
old and weary of it. 

5. Pride, vanity. Pride, makes us esteem ourselves ; vanity, makes 
us desire the esteem of others. It is just to say, as Dean Swift has 
•lone, that a man is too proud to be vain. 

a. Haughtiness, disdain. Haughtiness, is founded on the high opin- 
ion we entertain of ourselves ; disdain, on the low opinion we have of 
others. 

7. To distinguish, to separate. We distinguish, what we do not want 
to confound with another thing ; we separate, what we want to remove 
from it. Objects are distinguished from one another, by their qualities. 
They are separated, by the distance of time or place. 

8. To weary,, to fatigue. The continuance of the same thing wearie s 
us ; labour fatigues us. J am weary with standing ; I am fatigued 
with walking. A suitor wearies us by his perseverance ; fatigues us 
hy his importunity. 

9. To abhor, to detest. To abhor, imports, simply, strong dislike ; 
to detest, imports also, strong disapprobation. One abhors being in 
debt ; he detests treachery. 



its it respects Precision. 79 

10. To invent, to discover. We invent things that are new; we dis- 
cover what was before hidden. Galileo invented the telescope ; Har- 
vey discovered the circulation of the blood. . 

11. Only, alone. Only, imports that there is no other of the same 
kind ; alone, imports being- accompanied by no other. An only child, 
is one who has neither brother nor sister ; a child alone, is one who is 
left by itself. There is a difference, therefore, in precise language, 
betwixt these two phrases, " virtue only makes us happy ;" and, " vir- 
tue alone makes us happy." Virtue only makes us happy, imports, 
ihat nothing else can do it. Virtue alone makes us happy, imports, 
that virtue, by itself, or unaccompanied with other advantages, is 
sufficient to do it. (Carol. Art. 150.) 

12. Entire, complete. A thing is entire, by wanting none of its 
parts ; complete, by wanting none of the appendages that belong to 
it. A man may have an entire house to himself; and yet not have 
one complete apartment. 

13. Tranquillity, peace, calm. Tranquillity respects a situation free 
from trouble, considered in itself; peace, the same situation with re- 
spect to any causes that might interrupt it ; calm, with regard to a 
disturbed situation going before, or following it. A good man- enjoys 
tranquillity, in himself; peace, with 'others ; and calm, after the 
storm. 

14. A difficulty, an obstacle. A difficulty, embarrasses ; an obstacle, 
stops us. We remove the one ; we surmount the other. Generally, 
the first, expresses somewhat arising from the nature and circumstan- 
ces of the affair ; the second, somewhat arising from a foreign cause. 
Philip found difficulty in managing the Athenians, from the nature of 
their dispositions ', but the eloquence of Demosthenes was the greatest 
obstacle to his designs. 

15. Wisdom, prudence. Wisdom, leads us to speak and act what is 
most proper. Prudence, prevents our speaking or acting improperly. 
A wise man, employs the most proper means for success ; a prudent 
man, the safest means for not being t>rou»ht into danger. 

It5. Enough, sufficient. Enough, relates to the quantity which one 
wishes to have of any thing; sufficient, relates to the use that is to be 
made of it. Hence, enough, generally imports a greater quantity 
than sufficient does. The covetous ma.i never has enough; although 
he has what is sufficient for nature. (^ VII. p. 70) 

17. To avow, to acknowTidge, to confess. Each of these words im- 
ports the affirmation of a fact, but in very different circumstances. To 
avotv, supposes the person o glory in it; to acknowledge, supposes a 
small degree of faultmess, winch the acknowledgement compensates \ 
to confess, supposes a higher degree of crime. A patriot avows his 
opposition to a bad minister, arid is applauded; a gentleman ac- 
knowledges his mis ake, and is forgiven; a prisoner confesses the 
crime h»^ is accused of. and is punished. 

18. To remark:, to observe. We remark, in the way of attention, in 
orde.* to renumber; we observe, in the way of examination, in order 
to judge. A traveller remarks thp roost striking objects he sees ; a 
genera! observes all the motions of his enemy. (§ I- p o9.) 

19. Equivocal, ambiguous. An equivocal expression is one which 
lias one sense oncn, and designed to be understood: another sense 

8 



80 Grammatical Purity, fyc* 

concealed, and understood only by the person who uses it. An an>» 
biguous expression, is one which has apparently two senses, and leaves- 
us at a loss which of them to give it. An equivocal expression, is 
used with an intention to deceive; an ambiguous one, when it is used 
with design, is with an intention not to give full information. An 
honest man will never employ an equivocal expression ; a confused 
man may often utter ambiguous ones, without any design. I shall 
give only one instance more. {Art. 113.) 

20. With, by. Both these particles express the connexion between 
some instrument, or means of effecting an end, and the agent who 
employs it ; but with, expresses a more close and immediate connex- 
ion ; by, a more remote one. We kill a man with a sword ; he dies 
by violence.. The criminal is bound with ropes by the executioner. 

The proper distinction in the use of these particles, is elegantly 
marked in a passage of Dr. Robertson's History of Scotland. When 
one of the old Scottish kings was making an inquiry into the tenure 
by which his nobles held their lands, they started up and drew their 
swords: "By these," said they, " we acquired our lands, and with 
these we will defend them." — "By these we acquired our lands," sig- 
nifies the more remote means of acquisition by force and martial 
deed; and, "with these we will defend them," signifies the immediate 
direct instrument, the sword, which they would employ in their de- 
fence. (§ VIII. p. 70.) 

Obs. These are instances of words in our language, which, by care- 
less writers, are apt to be employed as perfectly synonymous, and yet 
are not so. Their significations approach, but are not precisely the 
same. The more the distinction in the meaning of such words is, 
weighed, and attended to, the more clearly and forcibly shall we 
speak or write.* 

* The Abbe Girard's Synonymes Francoises, contains a large collection of such ap- 
parent synonymes in the language. The Abbe shows, •with much accuracy, the dif- 
ference in their signification. Nothing Mould contribute more to precise and elegant 
writing, than attention to the force of words, and to the several distinctions betwixt 
terms accounted synonymousjn eur own language. 



m%<m> in 



% 



ON THE NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF SEN- 
TENCES, THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF 
PERSPICUITY, AND THE HARMONY OF 
PERIODS. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE NATURE OF SENTENCES AND PERIODS. 

125. HITHERTO we have investigated the nature of 
words detached and unconnected, in the same manner as 
an architect selects and prepares the materials of an edi- 
fice. We are now, like the same artist, to delineate the 
plan of execution, or to point out the most proper conjunc- 
tion and adaptation of the materials to accomplish the end 
in view. 

Obs. As the best materials for building will not form a convenient 
and elegant habitation, unless they are adjusted on a proper pian, so 
the purest and best chosen words will not constitute a perspicuous and 
beautiful sentence, unless they are properly arranged. • But before we 
take up this branch of the subject, it is requisite to premise some ob- 
servations on the nature of sentences and periods, and to unfold the 
principles which should regulate their composition. (§ IX. Cor. p. 69.) 

126. The terms sentence and period are nearly synony- 
mous, both denoting the quality of words or members com- 
prehended between two full points, in writing or printing ; 
and conveying a complete sense of themselves, independent 
of the words that either precede or follow them. (Illus. % 
Art. 130 and 139.) 

Illus. 1. Both the sentence and the period may consist of subdivi- 
sions, clauses, or members ; which are commonly separated from one 
another ; these more closely connected, by commas, those more 
slightly, by semicolons. 

2. In every sentence or period, there must be an agent, an action, 
and a subject on which the agent operates; that is, in the language of 
grammarians, there must be a nominative, a verb, and an accusative ; 
as, " Caesar amavit Juliam," " Alexander conquered Darius ;" unless 
the verb be of the class called intransitive, which requires no subject 
to act upon, the action being exhausted on the agent; as ? " Cicero de- 
claimed," 



82 Of Sentences and Periods. 

127. If there be two classes of agents, actions, and sub- 
jects in the sentence, one class depending on the other, the 
sentence will consist of two members, which are commonly 
separated from one another by a comma. (Jllus. 3. Jirt. 
130. and 137.) 

Jllus. 1. " If Julius Caesar had employed as much policy and cruel- 
ty as Augustus, he might have prevented the conspiracy formed against 
his life." 

128. If there be three classes of agents, actions, and sub- 
jects, the sentence will consist of three members, separated 
by semicolons. 

Jllus. " If Julius Caesar had employed as much policy and cruelty 
as Augustus ; if he had proscribed every suspicious person under his 
government; he might have prevented the conspiracy formed against 

his life." 

129. If there be four classes of agents, actions, and sub- 
jects, the sentence will consist of 'four members, separated 
by semicolons. 

lllus. " If Julias Caesar had employed as much cruelty and policy 
■as Augustus ; if he had proscribed every suspicious person under his 
government; he might have prevented the conspiracy formed against 
his life ; and he might have lived, like that Emperor, to old age, flat- 
tered, obeyed, and adored by the Roman people." 

Corol. Hence it is apparent, that though the presence of an agent, 
an action, and a subject, be requisite to constitute a member, yet they 
do not prohibit the attendance of explanatory words, particularly of 
adjectives or participles, which denote some quality or property of the 
agent or the subject. Accordingly, in the last member of the last 
example, " he might have lived, like that Emperor, to old age, flatter- 
ed, obeyed, and adored by the Roman people j" the participles flat- 
tered, obeyed, adored, encroach not on the unity of the member, but 
tend merely to modify or illustrate its principal parts. (See Jllus. 2. 
Jrt. 119.) 

130. When a sentence contains one member only, it n* 
called simple; when it contains more members than one, 
it is called complex ; when it contains three, four, or more 
members, it generally takes the name of period. (Art. 139.) 

Illus. 1. The ancient rhetoricians applied the name of period to all 
complex sentences, consisting of two or more members, but most fre- 
quently to those of four members. '■ Habet," says Quinctilian, " pe- 
riodus membra minimum duo. Medius numerus videtur quatuor, sed 
recipit frequenter et plura." 

2. To the period, according to Cicero, were given the different 
names of ambitus, circuilus, comprthtnsio, continualio, Circumscriptio t 
which seem a'l to have been derived from the Greek appellation. 

8. To simple sentences were given the names of commata, artkuli, 
itmst : the same names by which were denoted the members of per"* 



Structure of Complete Sentences. 33 

•ds ; because, perhaps, they coincided with them, in containing an 
agent, an action, and a subject. 

131. Simple sentences are best adapted to express the 
controversial and reprehensive parts of an oration. The 
period is adapted to the more splendid and pathetic parts, 
particularly the introduction and the peroration. 

132. A sentence is the smallest quantity of words which 
can express one entire proposition ; that is, which can ex- 
hibit an agent as performing some action, or which can con- 
vey the affirmation of some truth, (lllus. 3, Art. 130.) 

lllus. If, for example, the verb be intransitive, and be preceded by 
its nominative, a proposition will be expressed and a sentence will be 
formed ; because an agent will be represented as performing an ac- 
tion, and a complete meaning will be communicated. " The sun ri- 
ses ;" . " the morning lowers y" f* I eat, drink, walk," &.c. 

133. But if the verb be transitive, the nominative and 
the verb will not form a sentence, a proposition, or a com- 
plete sense ; because a subject will be wanting on which 
the action must be exerted. 

lllus. 1. Thus the words, Cato killed, Cicero banished, exhibit in- 
efficient actions, and incomplete senses. They leave the mind totally 
in suspense, till the subjects are subjoined on which the actions, killed, 
and banished, are exerted. 

'% But if we say, Cato killed himself, Cicero banished Cataline, we 
present entire sentences, and communicate knowledge and informa- 
tion. 

fS. Again, if 1 assert, " that the three angles of a triangle are equal 
to," I exhibit an incomplete proposition, or an imperfect affirmation, 
fill 1 add the words, " two right angles," which furnish an entire af- 
firmation, and a perfect proposition. 

Corol. Hence it appears that the essence of a sentence is, to convey 
one. proposition, and one only ; that it generally contains an agent, 
air' action, and a subject, and must contain an agent, and an action. 
This constitutes what is called the unity of a sentence. (Art. 149.) 

134. In constructing complex sentences, which con- 
sist of different classes of agents, actions, and subjects, the 
unity will be preserved, and only one proposition, with all 
its circumstances, will be expressed, if such sentences, how- 
ever complex, be properly composed. To accomplish this 
end, the different members of a simple sentence, or the dif- 
ferent classes of agents, actions, and subjects, so depend on. 
one another, that the sense is not fully communicated, till 
they are all properly arranged and conjoined. (Art. 133. 
lllus. 3.) 

lllus. 1. The following member, for instance, " If virtue constitutes 
the supreme good," conveys no complete sense, and the hearer con- 
tinues in suspense, till it is added, " all wise men will prefer it tft 

8* 



84 Of Sentences and Periods. 

every other acquisition ;" when the sentence, thus completed, exhibits 
two classes of agents, actions, and subjects, but contains only one fall 
meaning, or one proposition. 

2. Again, " If virtue constitutes the supreme good ; if it can com- 
municate the most substantial comfort and support ;" still these two 
members leave the sense imperfect, and the mind hesitates, till it is 
added, " all wise men will prefer it to every other acquisition;" this 
completes both the proposition and the meaning. 

3. The inconclusive members may be farther augmented : " If vir- 
tue constitutes the supreme good ; if it can communicate the most 
substantial comfort and support ; if it can procure the approbation of 
all good men in this world, and the favour of heaven hereafter j," still 
the sense is incomplete, till the efficient member is subjoined, " all wise 
men will prefer it to every other acquisition j" which produces an en- 
tire proposition, fully satisfies the mind, and preserves the unity of the* 
period. (Corol. Art. 133.) 

Corol. From these observations it is apparent, that the unity of a 
sentence is not impaired by its length, and that it will naturally be 
longer or shorter as the leading agent or member is attended with 
more or fewer dependent or explanatory agents, or members. JVo 
more members must ever be accumulated,, than are consistent with 
unity and perspicuity ; but neither should the meaning nor the cadence 
be interrupted by a frequent recurrence of abrupt sentences of one or 
two members. The -sense is the main regulating principle of the 
length, the sound is only a secondary consideration ; if, however, the 
former be preserved, the latter may be consulted, by a variety of mod- 
ulation as great as possible. (Scholium, Art. 138.) 

135. Short sentences impart animation and energy to 
style. They are contrasts to periods, they are simple and 
perspicuous, and the ideas which they convey are usually 
lively, forcible, or dignified. They are also employed 
chiefly to deliver maxims of wisdom and sublime senti- 
ments, which, supported by their natural importance and 
elevation, spurn the pomp and ornaments of language. (Art. 
142.) 

06s. The intermediate sentences of two or three members partici- 
pate the vivacity of short sentences, or the force and cadence of peri- 
ods, according as ihey appro: ch nearer to the one or the other. Their 
business is to convey the greater part of the sentiments which occur 
in the course of a long work, and which can be neither very lively nor 
very forcible. 

136. All complex sentences are not equally connected, 
nor are their members equally dependent on one another. 
The members are often conjoined by a simple copulation, 
and the reiaiion, in respect of meaning, amounts to little 
more than juxta-position. They contain different views of 
the same thought ; or the succeeding members explain, il- 
lustrate, extend, or restrict the preceding. (Art. 134.) 

lllns. The following example will elucidate these remarks. " Eve- 



The Structure of complex Sentences. 85 

i y one is lu some measure master of the art which is generally distin 
guished by the name of physiognomy, and naturally forms to himself 
the character or fortune of a stranger, from the features and lineaments 
of his face."* Expunge the copulative, resume the agent every one, 
and two complete sentences will appear ; so loose is the connection.. 
(See 4f/. 121.) 

137. Sentences, also, which contain the correspondent 
conjunctions, seldom admit more than two members. (See 
Art. 127.) 

Example. " As the secrets of the Ugly Club were exposed to the 
public, that men might see there were some noble spirits in the world., 
who were not displeased with themselves upon considerations they had 
no choice iu ; so the discourse concerning idols tended to lessen the 
value which people put upon themselves for personal accomplishments, 
and gifts of naturef." The reader need not be told, that the conjunc- 
tions here are, as and,so. 

138. The full period of several members possesses 
most dignity and modulation, and conveys also the greatest 
degree of force, by admitting the closest compression of 
thought. The members are generally conditional, and de- 
note supposition or contrast. 

lllus. 1. By supposition is understood, that the preceding members 
furnish a foundation, on which the conclusion is built : or that they 
operate as a climax, by which it is raised to the highest elevation. 

2. By contrast is understood, that the preceding members are oppo- 
sed to the concluding member, which, notwithstanding, possesses such 
energy, that the contrast takes place with irresistible effect. 

3. If, besides, such periods are properly constructed ; if the mem- 
bers are so formed, as to swell one above another in sound, as well as 
in sentiment ; the impression will become so exceedingly powerful, as 
not to escape the most inattentive observer. 

Example 1. Cicero supplies a beautiful period of the former species, 
in his oration for the Maniiian law. " Quare cum et bellum ita neces- 
sarium sit, ut neglegi non possit ; ita magnum, ut accuratissime sit 
administrandum ; et cum si imperatorem prsesicere possitis, in quo sit 
eximia belli scientia, singularis virtus, clarissima auctoritas, egregia 
fortuna ; dubitabitis, Quintes, quin hoc tantum boni, quod vobis a diis 
immortalibus oblatum et datum est, in rempublicam conservandain 
atque amplineandain conferatis." 

Illus. The members present a striking gradation in the sentiment. 
The war is absolutely necessary, and of great magnitude ; Pompey is 
the greatest, the bravest, the most successful general ; he must there- 
fore be preferred, to secure the favour of the gods, and the safety of 
the empire. An analogous elevation is discernable in the sound. The 
members rise above one another, both in length and modulation. The 
pleasure of the ear powerfully concurs to recommend and impress the 
sense. 

Example 2. The subsequent period will supply an example of the 
latter species. " Though the people should riot, and project insur- 

* Addison. t lMd. 



S6 &f Errors to be avoided 

rection ; though the tyrant shouid rag«, and threaten destruction ; 
though the hurricane should lay open the bed of the sea, and the 
earthquake should tear the globe in pieces ; though the stars should 
fall from their spheres, and the frame of nature should be dissolved : 
yet, according to Horace, Virtue will protect her votaries, and the 
good man will remain tranquil amid the ruins of the world." 

Illns. A similar gradation is perceptible, as in the preceding in- 
stance. The members increase both in extent and cadence. The 
rising series of contrasts convey inexpressible dignity and energy to 
the conclusion. 

Scholium. The proper union of sentences, also, is a matter of con- 
siderable importance to the effect of a composition. It seems, indeed, 
to be difficult, if not impracticable, to assign any rules relative to the 
proper intermixture of sentences expressive of strong, or even of 
moderate passion, as feelings on such occasions supersede all the dic- 
tates of theory, and the considerations of sound. (Illus.Jirt.'73.) But 
in grave and extended compositions, where the chief aim of the author 
is to instruct and amuse, the practice best supported by reason and 
experience, is, to intermix short, long, and intermediate sentences, in 
such a manner as to introduce as great variety as possible of caden- 
ces. Great care, however, must be taken to conceal all attention to 
art. If it become apparent, it disgusts the reader, and generally loses 
its effect. The species of sentence preferred by the writer should al- 
ways seem to be the most proper and natural lie could have employ- 
ed. Its length should be determined always by the sense, never by 
the punctuation, (lllus. Corol. and Jrt. 147.) 



CHAPTER U. 

J=>F THE ERRORS TO BE AVOIDED IN THE STRUCTURE OF 
SENTENCES, AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF SINGLE WORDS. 

139. WE derive little light from the names, ambitus, 
circuities, comprehensio, circurnscriptio, employed by Cicero, 
and approved by Quinctilian, as definitions of a period. — 
These names are manifestly derived from the Greek term 
tfegfo&K ; and the Latin critics have not ventured to proceed 
farther than their masters. (Illus. 2. Art. 130.) 

Obs. Without having recourse to the meaning of a period, or the 
species of dependence that subsists among its members, to explain its 
nature, thsy have been satisfied with some indefinite speculations 
aboutf its length, and the artificial measure in which it ought to be 
composed. They tell us, it should seldom exceed the length of four 
hexameter verses, or require more time to pronounce it than is re- 
quisite for one complete respiration of a full-grown man.* But the 
practice of the most perfect orators of antiquity frequently trans- 
gresses these rules. 



* Cic. Orat. chap. 66. Quiac*. lib. IX. chap. 4, 



in the Arrangement of Words. 8? 

140. If two or more leading thoughts or agents, which 
nave no natural relation to one another, nor any depen- 
dence on one another, and which concur not in pointing 
toward any one object, are introduced into a sentence, they 
will destroy its unity. This is a frequent and gross error 
in the structure of sentences. 

Example. " As much as the fertile mould is fitted to the treey as 
much as the strong and upright trunk of the oak or elm is fitted to the 
twining branches of the vine or ivy, so much are the very leaves, 
the seeds, and the fruits of these trees fitted to the various animals ; 
these, again, to one another, and to the elements where they live, and 
to which they are as appendices, in a manner, fitted and joined; as 
either by wings for the air, fins for the water, feet for the earth, and 
by other correspondent inward parts, of more curious frame and 
texture."* 

IUus. This long and involved period presents two agents ; trees lead 
the first member, animals the second and the third. It should, there- 
fore, it seems, be divided into two, or perhaps three sentences, with 
the proper agents prefixed. In this view, the first member may 
remaiu as it is, but the second and third members will assume the 
following appearance. u Animals, again, are fitted to one another, 
and to the elements where they live, and to which they are &s appen- 
dices. They are adapted by wings for the air, fins for the water, feet 
for the earth, and by other correspondent inward parts, of more 
curious frame and texture." 

141. Errors are frequently committed in the extent of 
periods, which are sometimes swelled to too great length; 
at other times formed too short or abrupt. 

Obs. A long period, perfectly clear and well constructed, is always- 
beautiful and pleasant, if it be not so prolonged as to exhaust the 
patience and attention of the reader. But it is extremely difficult to 
compose such periods ; and, for this reason, a great many of them are 
ungraceful and obscure. 

142. It is, perhaps, more necessary at present, to remon- 
strate against a deviation to the opposite extreme. The 
stvle of many of our present writers is too short and abrupt. 
(Art. 135.) 

IUus. An affectation of sprightliness, or of oracular wisdom, seems 
to have infected some of our authors, and to have tempted them t& 
employ that laconic diction, which is very current with our neigh- 
bours, the French, and which is generally supposed most correspon- 
dent to this species of composition. The appearance of such a style, 
is, however, no symptom of the general corruption of the public taste 
and ear. But when we recollect the progress and revolutions of 
literature, both in Athens and Rome, we cannot be too quick-sighted 
in apprehending danger. The manner of the authors who succeeded 
the most flourishing a>ra of the Grecian eloquence, undoubtedly dis- 
played the strongest attachment to this mode of stvle : and many q? 

* Shaftesbury. 



S8 Of Errors to be avoided 

the most conspicuous writers of Rome, posterior to the Augustan age ; 
furnish examples of the same kind of composition. 

143. The arrangement of the agent, the action, and 
ihe subject, the chief ingredients in all members, senten- 
ces, and periods, is almost invariable. The agent appears 
Jirst, the action succeeds, and the subject, if there be one, 
takes its station last. 

Illus. If the agent or the subject be modified or illustrated by ad- 
jectives, or the action be extended or restricted by adverbs, the 
dependent words assume their stations in juxta-position to their prin- 
cipals, the adjectives to their substantives, and the adverbs to their 
verbs. The adjective is placed before its correspondent substantive, 
when it has no circumstance depending on it ; but it is situated after 
its substantive when it is followed by some modification. " A wise 
man." " A good book." " A spacious apartment." But we say, " A 
man wise for himself." " A book good for amusement." " An apart- 
ment convenient for company." Adverbs generally follow neuter, 
but precede active verbs. " Caesar fought bravely." " Pompey rashly 
engaged him at Pharsalia." Our adjectives have no inflexions, and 
therefore can be arranged only on the princinle of juxta-position. 
(§//./>. 67.) 

144. Though in every member of a sentence, there must 
be an agent, an action, and a subject, unless the action be 
intransitive ; there are to be found in many members two, 
in some three, classes of agents, actions, and subjects, that 
explain, restrict, or otherwise depend on the primary class* 
hj which the member is discriminated. 

Example. "It is usual," says Addison,* "for a man who loves 
country-sports, to preserve the game on his own grounds, and divert 
himself on the grounds of his neighbours. My friend Sir Roger 
generally goes two or three miles from his own house, and gets into 
the frontiers of his estate before he beats about for a hare or a par- 
tridge, on purpose to spare his own fields, where he is always sure of 
finding diversion, when the worst comes to the worst." 

Illus. Tn the former of these sentences, there is one class only of 
agents, actions, and subjects, "A man who loves country-sports;" 
but there are no fewer than three such classes, in the first clause of 
the latter sentence : " Sir Roger generally goes two or three miles ; 
he gets into the frontiers of his estate, before he beats about for a 
hare or a partridge." These dependent classes, like dependent words, 
adjectives, and adverbs, are arranged on the principle of juxta posi- 
tion, as near to the primary class as is consistent with the intimacy of 
their relation. (Illus. Art. 143.) 

145. Of the arrangement of the other parts of speech, 
pronouns, participles, prepositions and conjunctions, no* 
directions can be given, that will not be liable to many ex- 
ceptions. The following principles seem to include every 

Spectator, No. 131, 



in the Arrangement of Words. 89 

thing which can, with any confidence, be advanced on the 
subject. 

Illus. 1. Pronouns have no other use in language, but to represent 
nouns ; and, of course, they are commonly called to occupy the sta- 
tions of the nouns they represent. They should, therefore, be 
marshalled agreeably to the stations in which their principals would 
appear. (§VI. p. 68, and Art. 71.) 

2. The chief office of prepositions, is, to denote the relations of 
substantives to one another ; they are, therefore, placed generally 
between the related objects, immediately before the one that bears 
the relation, and as near as possible to the other, to which ihe relation 
is borne. " A man of virtue.' 3 " Success to industry." " Genius with 
judgment." 

3. Participles, in general, assume the situation of adjectives, of the 
nature of which they very much partake ; but they are also employed 
frequently to introduce clauses dependent on preceding verbs. " A 
loving father." " A learned man." li He passed through life, adored 
by his friends, and respected by all good men." (Illus. 2. Art. 59.) 

4. Conjunctions are often introduced to connect single s«bstautives r 
bu' more commonly to conjoin clauses of sentences. From their 
nature they require a situation between the things of which they form 
an union. (Art. 72.) 

5. The interjection, finally, in a grammatical sense, is totally un- 
connected with every oilier word in a sentence Its arrangement, of 
course, is altogether arbitrary, and cannot admit of auv theory. — 
(Art. 73.) 

6. If two adverbs attend upon a single verb, one significant of place 
or time, the other of some modification 6i the verb, the former is 
generally situated, before the verb, the latter, more intimately connect- 
ed with the verb, is placed immediately after it, to the exclusion even 
of the subject, when some circumstance depends upon the subject. 
" Cassar often reprehended severely the ingratitude of his enemies.'' 
" He every where declared publicly his inclination to preserve the 
constitution of his country." (Art. 70.) 

7. If one auxiliary attend a verb, along with one adverb, the adverb 
is generally placed between the auxiliary and the verb. : < Folly has 
always exposed her author." " Wealth may often make friends, but 
can never produce true peace of mind." 

8. If there be two auxiliaries, the adverb is commonly situated 
between them. " He should certainly have come." " He might easily 
have known." In passive sentences, however, the adverb is olaced 
after both the auxiliaries; as, " He will be uncommonly agitated." 
" I shall be completely ruined." (Art. 70. Illus. 5.) 

9. If there be three auxiliaries, when the sentence must again be 
passive, the adverb is placed after them all. " I might have been 
better informed." "He might have been completely educated in that 
branch of science." "It should have been well authenticated." 

10. If two adverb's, with two auxiliaries, attend upon the same verb, 
the adverbs will be intermixed with the auxiliaries. u I have always 
been much embarrassed by thesp inconveniences." " He can never 
be sincerely disposed to promote peace." " He might at least have 
plainly told him." 

11. In the arrangement of two or more prepositions, the relation of 
concomitance seems to be the most intimate, and, therefore, takes the 



$0 On the Structure of Sentences. 

precedency of all others. u He went with him to France ; he came 
with hira from Rome ; he lived with him at Naples, and fought with 
him ia Flanders ; he contended with him for fame, but fought with 
him against his enemies." The relation denoted by from, precedes 
that signified by to. " He came from Rome to Paris, and from Paris 
to London.' " From a beginning very unpromising, he rose to great 
influence and wealth." " Society proceeds from barbarity to refine- 
ment, from ignorance to knowledge, from wealth to corruption, and 
fro:n corruption to ruin." 

Scholium. These .principles are supported by the practice of our 
purest writers. It is our duty ; therefore, to form our style on the 
most correct models before up, if we would a"cid that fluctuating and 
unsettled imitation which is observable, when the ear is our chief guide, 
and its dictates are always variable, r.ot seldom whimsical. In a mat- 
ter of so much consequence) we may, it seems, follow with most con- 
fidence the example of the best writers and speakers, explained and 
supported by the analogies of grammar and of perspicuity. (Art. 80.) 



CHAPTER III. 

ON THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES. 

146. THOUGH perspicuity be the general head under 
which we are at present considering language, we shall not 
confine ourselves to this quality alone, in sentences, but in- 
quire also, what is requisite for their grace and beauty. 

Obs. Aristotle defines a sentence to be a form of speech which hath 
a beginning and an end within itself, and is of such a length as to be 
easily comprehended at once.* This, however, admits of a great 
latitude. For a sentence, or period, consists always of component 
parts, which are called its members ; and as these members may be 
either few or many, and may be connected in several different wars, 
the same thought, or mental proposition, may often be either brought 
into one sentence, or split into two or three, without the material 
breach of any rule. (Art. 141. and 142.) 

147". The first variety that occurs in the consideration of 
sentences, is, the distinction of Ions; and short ones. The 
precise length of sentences, as to the number of words, or 
the number of members, which may enter into them, can- 
not be ascertained by any definite measure. At the same 
time, it is obvious, that there may be an extreme on either 
side. 

Illus. Sentences, immoderately long, and consisting of too many 
members, always transgress some one or other of the rules which are 
necessary to be observed in every good sentence. In discourses that are 

* tegic iy*7x HX 1 ™ KXl TtMWiW k*S' xvmv, km fiey&os wrvnxTw, 



On the Structure of Sentences. 91 

\o be spoken, regard must be had to the easiness of pronunciation, 
which is not consistent with too long- periods. In compositions where 
pronunciation has no place, still, however, by using- long- periods too 
Frequently, an author overloads and fatigues the reader's attention. 
For long periods require, evidently, more attention than short ones, in 
order to perceive clearly the connection of the several parts, and to 
lake in the whole at one view. At the same time, in too many short 
sentences, also, there may be an excess, by which the sense is split and 
broken, the connection of thought weakened, and the memory burden- 
ed, bv presenting to it a long succession of minute objects. (Ohs. 2. 
Art. 148.) 

Corbl. According to the nature of the composition, therefore, and 
the general character it ought to bear, the one or other may be pre- 
dominant. But, in almost every kind of composition, the great rule 
is to intermix them. For the attention tires of either of them when 
too long continued : whereas, it is gratified by a proper mixture of 
long and short periods, in which a certain sprightliness is joined with 
majesty of style. u It is not proper always to employ a continued 
train, and a sort of regular compass of phrases ; but style ought to be 
often broken down into smaller members."* 

148. This variety is of so great consequence, that it 
must be studied, not only in the succession of long and 
short sentences, but in the structure of either species of 
these sentences. 

Illus. 1. A. train of sentences, constructed in the same manner, and 
with the same number of members, whether long or short, should 
never be allowed to succeed one another. However musical each of 
them may be to a reader, it has a better effect to introduce even a 
discord, than to cloy the ear with the repetition of similar sounds : for, 
nothing is so tiresome as perpetual uniformity. (Art. 116. Illus. 1,2. 
Cril. I. and II.) 

149. The properties most essential to a perfect sentence, 
seem to be the four following : 1. Clearness and precision. 
9,. Unity. 3. Strength. 4. Harmony. Each of these we 
shall illustrate separately, and at some length. 

Ilbits. The least failure in clearness and precision, which we con- 
sider the first essential properties to a perfect sentence, the least de- 
gree of ambiguity, which leaves the mind in any sort of suspense as to 
the meaning, ought to be avoided with the greatest care ; nor is it so 
easy a matter to keep always clear of this, as one might, at first, ima- 
gine. Precision has already been considered ; we shall here consider 
ambiguity as it arises either from a wrong choice of words, or a wrong 
collocation of them. In Chapter IV. this subject will behandled in its 
most extensive signification. 

Carol. Hence a capital rule in the arrangement of sentences is, that 
the words or members most nearly related, should be placed in the 
sentence, as near to each other as possible ; so as to make their mu- 
tual relation clearly appear. This is a rule not always observed as 
3tiictly as it. ought to be, even by good writers. It will be necessary 

* " Non semper ut?ndum est perpetuitate, et quasi ccnversione verborum ; sed 
s&pe carpecda membris minutioribus oratio est." Cicero. 

9 



92 On the Structure of Sentences. 

to produce some instances, which will hoth shew the importance 01 
this rule, and make the application of it understood. (Art. 121.) 

150. First, in the position of adverbs, which are used to 
qualify the signification of something that either precedes 
or follows them, there is often a good deal of nicety. ( Art. 
121. and lllus.) 

Iltus. " The Romans understood liberty, at least, as well as we.'* 
These words are capable of two different senses, according as the em- 
phasis, in reading them, is laid upon liberty, or upon at least. In the 
first case, they will signify, that whatever other things we may under- 
stand better than the Romans, liberty, at least, was one thing which 
they understood as well as we. In the second case, they will import, 
that liberty was understood at least as well by them as by us ; mean. 
ing, that by them it was better understood. If this last, as I make no 
doubt, was Dean Swift's own meaning, the ambiguity would bavebeen 
avoided, and the sense rendered independent of the manner of pro- 
nouncing, by arranging the words thus : " the Romans understood 
liberty, as well, at least, as we." (Art. 70. Illus. 5.) 

Coral. With respect, then, to such adverbs^as, only, wholly, at leas* f 
and the rest of that tribe, which we use in common discourse, the tone 
and emphasis with which we pronounce them, generally serve to 
shew their reference, and to make their meaning clear ; and hence, we 
acquire a habit of throwing them in loosely in the course of a period. 
But, in writing, where a man speaks to the eye and not to the ear, he 
ought to be more accurate ; and so to connect those adverbs with the 
words which they qualify, as to .put his meaning out of doubt upon the 
first inspection. (Illus. 11. Art. 124.) 

151. Secondly, When a circumstance is interposed in 
the middle of a sentence, it sometimes requires attention 
how to place it, so as to divest it of all ambiguity. 

Illus. " Are these designs, which any man, who is born a Briton, la 
any circumstances, in any situation, ought to be ashamed or afraid to 
avow ?"+ Here we are left at a loss, whether these words, " in any 
circumstances, in any situation" are connected with " a man born in 
Britain, in any circumstances, or situation," or with that man's 
« avowing his designs, in any circumstances, or situation into which 
he may be brought ?" If the latter, as seems most probable, was in- 
tended to be the meaning, the arrangement ought to have been con- 
ducted thus : " Are these designs, which any man who is born a 
Briton, ought to be ashamed or afraid to avow in any circumstances, 
in any situation ?" But, 

152. Thirdly, Still more attention is required to the pro- 
per disposition of the relative pronouns, who, which, what, 
whose, and of all those particles which express the connex- 
ion of the parts of speech with one another. As all reason- 
ing depends upon this connexion, we cannot here be too ac- 
curate and precise. A small error may overcloud the 

* Swift's Project for the Advancement of Religitfn. 
t Bolingbroke's Dissert, on Parties.- 



The Position of Adverbs and Pronouns. 93 

weaning of the whole sentence ; and even where the mean- 
ing is intelligible, if thes* relative particles be out of their 
proper place, we always find something awkward and dis- 
jointed in the structure of the sentence. 

Titus. 1. " This k»nd of wit was very much in vogue among our 
countrymen, about an age or two ago, who did not practice it for any 
oblique reason, but purely to-" the sake of being witty."* We are at 
bo i<>s> about th ■ meaning here ; but the construction would evidently 
be mended by disposing of the circumstance, :t about an age or two 
ago,, rt i;i such 9 maimer as not to separate the relative who from its 
antecedent ear countrymen. Thus, " about an age or two ago, this 
kind of wh was very much in vogue among our countrymen, who did 
not practice it tor any oblique reason, but purely for the sake of being 
witl . " 

2. Of the like nature is the following inaccuracy of Dean Swift. 
He is recommend' ag to young clergymen to write their sermons fully 
and distinctly. '< viany," says he, >' act so directly contrary to this 
method, that from a habit of saving time and paper, which they ac- 
quired at th^ mi '*ity, they write in so diminutive a manner, that 
they can hardh r^ad what they have written." He certainly does not 
mean, that they had acquired time and paper at the university, but 
that they had acquired this habit of saving both time and paper there ; 
and therefore his words ought to have run thus : " From a habit which 
4hey have acquired at the university of saving time and paper, they 
write in so diminutive a manner." 

Scholia. Several other instances might be given ; but those which 
we have produced may be sufficient to make the rule understood. 

I. Namely, that in the construction of sentences one of the first 
things to be attended to, is, the marshalling of the words in such order 
as shall most clearly mark the relation of the several parts of the sen- 
tence to one another. 

Particularly, that adverbs "shall always be made to adhere closely ta 
the words which they are intended to qualify. 

II. That, where a circumstance is thrown in, it shall never hang 
loose in the midst of a period, but be determined by its place to one 
or other of the members in that period. 

III. And that every relative word which is used, shall instantly 
present its antecedent to the mind of the reader, without the least 
obscurity. 

In these three cases are contained SGme of the most frequent occa- 
sions of ambiguity creeping into sentences. (Bid see Chapters IV, V % 
VI, VII, and VIII, of this book.) 

153. With regard to relatives, we must farther observe, 
that obscurity often arises from the too frequent repetition 
of there, particularly of the pronouns who, and they, and 
them, and theirs, when we have occasion to refer to different 
persons. 

Illus. 1. " Men look with an evil eye upon the good that is in oth' 
crs ; and think that their reputation obscures them, and their com- 
iicndable qualities stand in their light; and therefore they do whal 

* Spectator, No. S-U. 



94 On the Structure of Sentences. 

they can to cast a cloud over them, that the bright shining" of theip 1 
virtues may not obscure them."* 

This is altogether careless writing-. It renders style often obscure? 
always embarrassed and inelegant. When we find these personal 
pronouns crowding- too fast upon us, we have often no method left r 
but to throw the whole sentence into some other form, which may 
avoid those frequent references to persons who have before been men- 
tioned. 

2. All languages are liable to ambiguities. Quinctilian gives us 
some instances in the Latin, arising from faulty arrangements. A 
man, he tells us, ordered, by his will, to have erected for him, after 
his death, " Statuam auream hastam tenentem ;" upon which arose a 
dispute at law, whether the whole statue, or the spear only, was to be 
of gold ? 

3. The same author observes, very .properly, that a sentence is al- 
ways faulty, when the collocation of the words is ambiguous, though 
the sense can be gathered. If any one should say, " Chremetem au» 
divi percussise Demr-am;" this is ambiguous, both in sense and struc- 
ture, whether Chremes or Demea gave the blow. 

CoroL Hence, to have the relation of every word and member of a 
sentence marked in the most proper and distinct manner, gives not 
clearness only, but grace and beauty to a sentence, making the mind 
pass smoothlv and agreeaoly along all the parts of it. (Corol. Art* 
149.) 

154. Unity is the second quality of a we]l-arranged sen- 
tence. This is a capital property. In every composition, 
of whatever kind, some degree of unity is required, in or- 
der to render it beautiful. There must be always som& 
connecting principle among the parts. Some one object 
must reign and be predominant. 

Obs. This holds in history, in epic and dramatic poetry, and in all 
orations. But most of all, in a single sentence, is required the strict- 
est unity. For the very nature of a sentence implies one proposition, 
to be expressed. It may consist of parts, indeed; but these parts 
must be so closely bound together, as to make upon the mind the im- 
pression of one object, not of many. Now, in order to preserve this 
unity of a sentence, the lbilowing rules must be observed. 

155. In the first place, during the course of the sentence, 
the scene should be changed as little as possible. We 
should not be hurried by sudden transitions from person to 
person, nor from subject to subject. There is commonly, 
in every sentence, some person or thing, that is the govern- 
ing word. This should be continued so, if possible, from 
the beginning to the end of the sentence. 

Tllus. Should I express myself thus : " After we came to anchor, 
th' y put mr on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who 
received me with the greatest kindness." Though the objects con- 
tained ia this sentence, have a .sufficient connection with each other, 

* Tillotson. Vol, I. Scrro. 4& 



~ 



Wnity. 



$5 



Jfftl, by this manner of representing- them, by shifting so often both the 
place and the person, M;e, and they, and /, and who, they appear in 
such a disunited view, that the sense of the sentence is almost lost. 
The sentence is restored to its proper unity, by turning- it after tue 
foHowin* manner: " Having come to an anchor, I was. put on shore, 
where I was welcomed by all my friends, and received with the great- 
est kindness." Writers who transgress this rule, for the most part 
transgress, at the same time, 

156. A second rule; never crowd into one sentence, 
things which have so little connection, that they could bear 
to be divided into two or three sentences. The violation of 
this rule never fails to injure the style, and displease die 
reader. Its effect, indeed, is so disagreeable, that of the 
two, it is the safer extreme, to err rather by too many short 
sentences, than by one that is overloaded and embarrassed. 

Mils. 1. Examples abound in our own authors We shall produce 
some, to justify what we have said. "Archbishop Tillotson," says 
an Author of the History of England, " died in this year. He was 
■exceedingly beloved both Ivy King William and* Queen Mary, who 
nominated Dr. Tennison, Bishop of Lincoln, to succeed him." Who 
would expect the latter part of this sentence to follow, in consequence 
of the former ? " He was exceedingly beloved by both King and 
Queen. 7 ' is the proposition of the sentence : we look for some proof 
of this, or at least something related to it, to follow ; when we are on 
a sudden carried off to a new proposition, "who nominated Dr. Ten- 
nison to succeed him." 

2. The following is from Middleton's Life of Cicero : "In this un- 
easy state, both of his public and private life, Cicero was oppressed 
by a new and cruel affliction, the death of his beloved daughter Tui- 
iia ; which happened soon after her divorce from Dolabellu, whose 
manners and humours were entirely disagreeable to her." The prin- 
cipal object in this sentence is, the death of Tullia, which was the 
cause of her father's affliction ; the date of it, as happening soon after 
her divorce from Dolabella, may enter into the sentence with proprie- 
ty, but the subjunction of Dolabella's character is foreign to the main 
object, and totally breaks the unity and compactness of the sentence, 
by setting a new picture before the reader. (Jlrt; 149.) 

3. The following sentence, from a translation of Plutarch, is still 
worse: speaking of the Greeks under Alexander, the author says, 
i: Their march was through an uncultivated country, whose savage 
inhabitants fared hardly, having no other riches than a breed of lean 
sheep, whose flesh was rank and unsavory, by reason of their contin- 
ual feeding upon sea-fish." Here the scene is changed upon us again 
and again. The march of the Greeks, the description of the inhabitants 
through whose country they travelled, the account of these people's 
riches lying wholly in sheep, and the cause of their sheep bring ill- 
tasted food, form a jumble of objects, slightly related to each other, 
which the reader cannot, without, much difficulty, comprehend under 
one view. (Cor. Art. 149.) 

157. A third rule, for preserving the unity of sentences, 
is, to avoid all parentheses in the middle of them, n some 
9* 



96 On the Structure of Sentences. 

occasions, they may -have a spirited appearance; as prompt 
ied by a certain vivacity of thought, which can glance hap- 
pily aside, as it is going along. {Art. 187.) 

Obs. For the most part, their effect is not always spirited : nay, 
sometimes it is extremely bad. They seem a sort of wheels within 
wheels ; sentences in the midst of sentences; the perplexed method of 
disposing- of some thought, which a writer wants art to introduce in 
its proper place. It were needless to give any instances, as they oc- 
cur so often among incorrect writers. 

158. The fourth and last rule for the unity of a sentence, 
is, to bring it always to a full and perfect close. Every 
thing that is one, should have a beginning, a middle and an 
end. An unfinished sentence is no sentence at all, accor- 
ding to any grammatical rule. 

Obs. But we very often meet with sentences, that are, so to speak, 
more than finished. When we have arrived at what we expected was 
to be the conclusion, when we are come to the word on which the 
mind, by what went before, is naturally led to rest > unexpectedly, 
some circumstance appears, which ought to have been omitted, or to 
have been disposed of elsewhere ; but which is left fagging behind, 
like a tail adjected to the sentence. This looks to the rhetorician's, 
eye, as does to the naturalist's the prodigious tail which the rude hand 
of early astronomy has given to the constellation Ursa Major. 

159. The third quality of a correct sentence, is 
strength. By this is meant such a disposition of the sev- 
eral words and members, as shall bring out the sense to the 
best advantage; as shall render the impiession which the 
period is designed to make, most full and complete ; and 
give every word, and every member, its due weight and 
force. {Example. Jirt. 173.) 

Obs. The two former qualities of perspicuity and unity, are, no 
doubt, absolutely necessary to the production of this effect ; but more 
is sfii! requisite. For a sentence may be clear enough, it may also be 
compact enough in all its parts, or have' the requisite unity ; and yet, 
by some unfavourable circumstance in the structure, it may fail in 
that strength or liveliness of impression which a more happy arrange- 
ment would have produced. 

160. The first rule for promoting the strength of a sen- 
tence, is, to divest it of all redundant words. These may, 
sometimes, be consistent with a considerable degree botli of 
clearness and unity ; but they are always enfeebling (See 
Art. 121.) ° V 

Itlus. It is a general maxim, that any words which do not. add some 
importance to the meaning of a sentence, alwa-s spoil it. They can- 
not be superfluous, without being hurtful. All" that can be easily sup- 
plied in t»e mind, is better left out in the expression Thu?: "Content 
with deserving a triumph, he refused the honor of it ? " is better laiV- 



iMiimBMaMHBBMn^inmBn 



Strength. §7 

guage than to say, u Being- content with deserving a triumph, he 
refused the honor of it." 

Corol. One of the most useful exercises of correction, upon review- 
ing what we have written or composed, is therefore to contract that 
round-about method of expression, and to lop off those useless ex- 
crescences which are commonly found in a first draught. Here a 
severe eye should be employed ; and we shall always find our senten- 
ces acquire more vigour and energy when thus retrenched ; provi- 
ded always, that we run not into the extreme of pruning so very close, 
as to give a hardness and dryness to style. For here, as in all other 
things, there is a due medium. Some regard, though not the princi- 
pal, must be had to fulness and swelling of sound. Some leaves must 
be left to surround and shelter the fruit. 

161. As sentences should be cleared of redundant words, 
so also of redundant members. As every word ought to 
present a new idea, so every member ought to contain a 
neiv thought. Opposed to this, stands the fault with which 
we sometimes meet, of the last member of a period being 
nothing else than the echo of the former, or the repetition 
of it in a different form. For example ; speaking of beauty,, 

Illus'. Mr. Addison says, " The very first discovery of it, strikes the 
mind with inward joy, and spreads delight through all its faculties*." 
And elsewhere, " It is impossible for us to behold the divine works 
with coldness or indifference, or to survey so many beauties, without a 
secret satisfaction and complacency!.'' in both these instances, little 
or nothing is added by the second member of the sentence to what 
was already expressed in the first : and though the free and flowing 
manner of such an author as Mr. Addison, and the graceful harmony 
of his periods, may palliate such negligences ; yet, in general, it holds, 
that style, freed from this prolix it}', appears both more strong and 
more beautiful. The attention becomes remiss, the mind falls into 
inaction, when words are multiplied without a corresponding multi- 
plication of ideas. (See. Crit. I .'and 2. p. 71.) 

162. After removing superfluities, the second rule for 
promoting the strength of a sentence, is, to attend particu- 
larly to the use of copulatives, relatives, and all the particles 

mployed for transition and connection. 

Illus. These little words, but, and, which, whose, where, k.c. are fre- 
quently the most important words of any ; they are the joints or hin- 
ges upon which all sentences turn, and, of course, much, both of the 
gracefulness and the strength of sentences, must depend upon the 
proper use of such particles. The varieties in using them are, indeed, 
so numerous, that no particular system of rules can be given respect- 
ing them Attention to the practice of the most accurate writers, 
joined with frequent trials of the different effects produced bv a dif- 
ferent usage of those particles, must here direct us. (Arl. 145. illus. 

163. What is called splitting of particles, or separating 

> 

* Spectator, No. 4 A. f ibid. No. 4VS. 



9S On the Structure of Sentences. 

a preposition from the noun which it governs, is always fe 
be avoided, (lllus. 1 1. Art. 145.) 

fflus. •'•' Though virtue borrows no assistance from, yet it may often 
be accompanied by, the advantages of- fortune." In pronouncing this 
instance we feel a sort of pain from the revulsion, or violent separa- 
tion of two things, which by their nature, should be closely united. 
We are put to a stand in thought ; being obliged to rest fur a little on 
the preposition by itself, which, at the same time, carries no signifi- 
cance', till it is joined to its proper substantive noun. 

i64. Some writers needlessly multiply demonstrative 
and relative particles, by the frequent use of such phraseol- 
ogy as the following: 

Jllus. " There is nothing which disgusts us sooner than the empty 
pomp of language." In introducing a subject, or laying down a pro- 
position to which we demand particular attention, this sort of stvle is 
very proper ; but in the ordinary current of discourse, it is better to 
express ourselves more simply and shortly : " Nothing disgusts i*s 
sooner than the empty pomp of language." 

165. Other writers make a practice of omitting the rela- 
tive, by adopting a phraseology of a different kind from the 
former. This error springs from the absurd supposition 
that, without this omission, the meaning could not be under- 
stood. 

Illus. " The man I love." — " The dominions we possessed, and the 
conquests we made." But though this elliptical st}de be intelligible, 
and allowable in conversation and epistolary writing, yet in all wri- 
tings of a serious or dignified kind, it is ungraceful. There, the rela- 
tive should always be inserted in its proper place, and the construc- 
tion filled up : as, " The man whom I love." — " The dominions which 
we possessed, and the conquests which we made." 

166. With regard to the copulative particle, wid } which 
occurs so frequently in all kinds of composition, several ob- 
servations are to be made. First, it is evident, that the un- 
necessary repetition of this particle enfeebles style. It has 
much the same effect as the frequent use of the vulgar 
phrase, and so, when one is telling a story in common con- 
versation. 

Illi's. 1. We shall, for one instance, take a sentence from Sir Wil- 
liam Temple. He is speaking of the refinement of the French lan- 
guage : " The academy set up by Cardinal Richelieu, to amuse the 
wits of that age and country, and to divert them from raking into 
his politics and ministry, brought this into vogue ; and the French 
wits have, for this last age, been wholly turned to the refinement of 
their style and language; and, indeed, with such success, that it can 
hardly be equalled, and runs equally through their verse and their 
prose." Here are no fewer than eight ands in one sentence. This 
agreeable writer too often makes his sentences drag ia this manner, 
by a careless multiplication of copulatives. 



Strength. 99 

2. It is strange that a writer so accurate as Dean Swift, should 
have stumbled on so improper an application of this particle, as he 
has made in the following sentence : " There is no talent so useful to- 
wards rising in the world, or which puts men more out of the reach 
of fortune, than that quality generally possessed by the dullest sort of 
people, and is, in common language, called discretion ; a species of 
lower prudence, by the assistance of which,"* &,c. By the insertion 
of, and is, in place of, which is, he has not only clogged the sentence,* 
but even made it ungrammatical. 

167. But, in the next place, it is worthy of observation, 
that though the naturaruse of the conjunction, and, be to 
join objects, and thereby make their connection more close } 
yet, in fact, by dropping the conjunction, we often mark a 
closer connection, a quicker succession of objects, than 
when it is inserted between them. 

Illns. 1. Longinus makes this remark; which, from many instances, 
appears to be just: '< Veni, virii, vici,''t expresses with more spirit 
the rapidity and quick succession of conquest, than if connecting 
pariicles had been used. 

2. So, in the following description of a rout in Caesar's Commen- 
taries, the omission of the connective particle gives great force to 
the sentence: " INostri, emissis pilis, gladiis rem gerunt ; repente 
post tergum equitatus cernitur ; cohortes »Iise appropinquant. Hostes 
terga ; vertunt ; fugientibus equites occurrunt ; fit magna ca?des."£ 
Bell. Gall. lib. 7. 

168. On the other hand, when we seek to prevent a 
quick transition from one object to another — when we are 
making some enumeration in which we wish that the objects 
should appear as distinct from each other as possible, and 
that the mind should rest, for a moment, on each object by 
itself, copulatives may be multiplied with peculiar advan- 
tage and grace. 

Mas. As when Lord Bolingbroke says, " Such a man misiht fall a 
victim to power ; but truth, and reason, and liberty would fall with 
him." 

In the same manner, Caesar describes an engagement with the Ner- 
vii : "His equitibus facile pulsis ac proturbatis, incvedibile celeritate 
ad ilumen decurrerunt ; ut pene uno tempore, et ad svlvas, et in 
flumiqe, etjam in manibus nostris, hostes viderentur.'§ Bell. Gall. 1. 2. 

Here, although he is describing a quick succession of events, yet as 
it is his intention to shew in how many places the enemy seemed to 
be at one time, the copulative is very happily redoublfd, in order to 
paint more strongly the distinction of these several places. 

* Essay on the Fates of Clergymen. t" I came, I saw. I conquered." 

$ "Our men, after having discharged their javelins, attack with, sword in hand; 
-of a sudden the cavalry make their appearance behind; other bodii-s of men are 
seen drawing near; the enemies turn tiieir backs; the horse meet them in their 
Sight ; a prrat slaughter ensut s.' 

! ' The enemy, having easily beat oT and scattered this body of horse, ran down 
with incredible celerity to the river, so that, almost at one moment of time, they 
3ppeared to be in the woods, and in the river, and in the midst of Qur troops." 



1-00 On the Structure of Sentences. 

Scholia. This attention to the several cases, when it is proper t« 
omit, and when to redouble the copulative, is of considerable impor- 
tance to all who study eloquence. For it is a remarkable particularity 
in language, that the omission of a connecting particle should some- 
times serve to make objects appear more closely connected : and that 
the repetition of it should distinguish and separate them in some 
measure from each other. Hence, the omission of it is used to denote 
rapidity ; and the repetition of it is designed to retard and to aggra- 
vate. The reason seems to be, that, in the former case, the mind is 
supposed to be hurried through a quick succession of objects, without 
gaining leisure to point out their connection ; it drops the copulative 
in its hurry ; and crowds the whole series, together, as if the objects 
were but one. Whereas, when we enumerate, with a view to aggra- 
vate, the mind is supposed to proceed with a more slow and solemn 
pace ; it marks fully the relation of each object to that which succeeds 
it; and by joining them together with several copulatives, makes us 
perceive, that the objects, though connected, are yet, in themselves, 
distinct; that they are many, not one. Observe, for instance, in the 
following enumeration made by the apostle Paul, what additional 
weight and distinctness are given to each particular by the repeti- 
tion of a conjunction. " I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, 
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 
be able to separate us from the love of God.""* So much with regard 
to the use of copulatives. 

169. A third rule for promoting the strength of a sentence, 
is, to dispose of the capital word, or words, in that place of 
the sentence where it or they will make the fullest impres- 
sion. 

Illus. Every one must see, that there are in every sentence such 
Capital words, on which the meaning principally rests ; and it is 
equally plain, that these words should possess a conspicuous and dis- 
tinguished place. But that place of the sentence where they will make 
the best figure, whether the beginning or the end, or sometimes, even 
the middle, cannot perhaps be ascertained by any precise rule. This 
must vary with the nature of the sentence. 

170. Perspicuity must ever be studied in the first place, 
and the nature of our language allows no great liberty in 
the choice of collocation. For the most part, with us, the 
important words are placed in the beginning of the sentence. 

Illus. " The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, 
are not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the under- 
standing, "f And this, indeed, seems the most plain and natural order, 
to place that in the front which is the chief object of the proposition 
we are laying down. Sometimes, however, when we intend to give 
weight to a sentence, it is of advantage to suspend the meaning for a 
nttle, and then bring it out full at the close : " Thus," says Pope, " on 
whatever side we contemplate Homer, what principally strikes us, ft 
his wonderful invention."^ 

* Jiom, viii. 3?, 39 t Addisdn. t Preface to ITonfffi 



Strength. 101 

1ft. The Greek and Latin writers had a considerable 
advantage above us, in this part of style. By the great 
liberty of inversion, which their languages permitted, they 
could choose the most advantageous situation for every 
word ; and had it thereby in their power to give their sen- 
tences more force. 

Obs. Milton, in his prose works, and some other of our old English 
writers, endeavour to imitate them in this. But the forced construc- 
tions which they employed, produced obscurity ; and the genius of 
our language, as it is now written and spoken, will not admit such, 
liberties. Gordon, who followed this inverted style, in his translation 
of Tacitus, has, sometimes, done such violence to the language, as 
even to appear ridiculous ; as in this expression : " Into this hole 
thrust themselves, three Roman senators." He has translated s* 
simple a phrase as, " Nullum ea tempestate bellum," by, " War at 
that time there was none." 

172. However, within certain bounds, and to a limited 
degree, our language does admit of inversions ; and they 
are practised with success by the best writers. 

We shall just glance at one example here, as inversion will be treated 
subsequently to harmony. (See Chapter X.) 

Illus. Pope, speaking of Homer, says, " The praise of judgment 
Virgil has justly contested with him, but his invention remains yet 
unrivalled." It is evident, that, in order to give the sentence its 
due force, by contrasting properly the two capital words, "judgment 
aud invention," this is a happier arrangement than if he had followed 
the natural order, which was, " Virgil has justly contested with him 
the praise of judgment, but his invention remains yet unrivalled.'' 

Obs. Some writers practise this degree of inversion, which our 
language bears, much more than others ; Lord Shaftesbury, for in- 
stance, much more than Mr. Addison : and to this sort of arrangement, 
is owing, in a great measure, that appearance of strength, dignity, 
and varied harmony, which Lord Shaftesbury's style possesses. 

173. But whether we practise inversion or not, and in 
whatever part of the sentence we dispose of the capital 
words, it is always a point of great moment, that these cap- 
ital words shall stand clear and disentangled from any other 
words that would clog them. 

Illus. Thus, when there are any circumstances of time, place, or 
other limitations, which the principal object of our sentence requires 
to have connected with it, we must take especial care to dispose of 
them, so as not to cloud that principal object, nor to bury it under a 
load of circumstances. 

Example. Lord Shaftesbury, speaking of modern poets, as compar- 
ed with the ancient, says : " If, whilst they profess only to please, they 
secretly advise, and give instruction, they may now, perhaps, as well 
as formerly, be esteemed, with justice, the best and most honourable 
among authors." This is a well constructed sentence. It contain? a 
great many circumstances and adverbs, necessary to qualify the 
meaning; only, secretly, now , perhaps, as well, formerly, with justice ; 



1Q2 On the Structure of Sentences. 

yet these, are placed with so much art, as neither to embarrass new 
weaken the sentence; while that which is the capital object in it, viz, 
" Poets being justly esteemed the best and most honourable among 
authors,' comes out in the conclusion clear and detached, and 
possesses its proper place. 

174. A fourth rule for constructing sentences with pro- 
per strength, is, to make the members of them go on rising 
iand groiving in their importance above one another. 

lilus. This sort of arrangement is called a climax, and is always 
considered as a beauty in composition. From what cause it pleases., 
is abundantly evident. In all things, we naturally love to ascend to 
what is more and more beautiful, rather than to follow the retrograde 
order. Having had once some considerable object set before us, it is, 
wiih pain, we are pulled back to attend to an inferior circumstance. 
u Care must be taken that our composition shall not fall off, and that 
a weaker expression shall not follow one of more strength ; as if, after 
sacrilege, we should bring in theft ; or, having mentioned a robbery, 
we should subjoin petulance. Sentences ought always to rise and 
grow."* 

2. Of this beauty, in the construction of sentences, the orations of 
Cicero furnish many examples. His pompous manner naturally led 
him to study it ; and, generally in order to render the climax perfect, 
he makes both the sense and the sound rise together, with a very 
magnificent swell. 

3. The following instance from Lord Bolingbroke, is beautiful : 
" This decency, this grace, this propriety of manners to character, is 
so essential to princes in particular, that, whenever it is neglected, 
their virtues lose a great degree of lustre, and their defects acquire 
much aggravation. Nay, more ; by neglecting this decency and this 
grace, and for want of a sufficient regard to appearances, even their 
virtues may betray them into failings, their failings into vices, and 
their vices into habits unworthy of princes, and unworthy of men."t 

175. This sort of full and oratorical climax, can neither 
be always obtained, nor ought it to be always sought after. 
Oniy some kinds of writing admit such sentences ; and to 
study them too frequently, especially if the subject do 
no1 require much pomp, is affected and disagreeable. But 
when sentences are approaching to a climax, the following 
is a general rule which we ought to study. 

Illus. 1. A weaker assertion or proposition should never come after 
a stronger one ;\ and when our sentence consists of two members, the 
longest should, generally, be the concluding one. There is a two-fold 
reason for this last direction. Periods thus divided, are pronounced 
more easily ; and the shortest member being placed first, we carry it 
more readily in our memory as we proceed to the second, and see the 
connection of the two more clearly. Thus, to say, " when our pas- 

* « Cavendura est ne decrescat oratio, et fortiori subjungatur aliquid infirmius ; 
sicut. sacrilegio, fur; aut latroni petulans. Augtrienim debent seiitentiae tt insur- 
gere " Quir.ctilian. 

t Idea of a Patriot King. 

$ "Ne decrescat oratio, et ne fortiori subjungatur aliquid infirmius." C^uinct. 



Strength. 103 

sions have forsaken U3, we flatter ourselves with the belief that we 
have forsaken them," is both more graceful and more clear, than to 
begin with the longest part of the proposition, and say : " We flatter 
ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken our passions, when they 
have forsaken us." 

2. In general, it is always agreeable to find a sentence rising upon 
us, and growing in its importance to the very last word, when this 
construction can be managed without affectation or unseasonable 
pomp. " If we rise yet higher," says Addison, very beautifully, " and 
consider the fixed stars as so many oceans of flame, that are each of 
them attended with a different set of planets ; and still discover new 
firmaments and new lights, that arc sunk farther in those unfathoma- 
ble depths of aether ; we are lost in such a labyrinth of suns and 
worlds, and confounded with the magnificence and immensity of na- 
ture."* Hence follows clearly, 

176. A fifth rule for the strength of sentences ; which is; 
to avoid concluding them with an adverb, a preposition, or 
any inconsiderable word. Such conclusions are always 
enfeebling and degrading. 

Obs. There are sentences, indeed, where the stress and significance 
rest chiefly upon some words of this kind. In this case they are not 
to be considered as circumstances, but as the capital figures ; and 
ought, in propriety, to have the principal place allotted them. No 
fault, for instance, can be found with this sentence : " In their pros- 
perity, my friends shall never hear of me ; in their adversity, al- 
ways, "t Where never, and always, being emphatical words, were to 
be so placed, as to make a strong impression. But we speak now of 
those inferior parts of speech, when introduced as circumstances, or 
as qualifications of more important words. In such a case they 
should always be disposed of in the least conspicuous parts of the pe- 
riod ; and so classed with other words of greater dignity, as to be 
kept in their proper and secondary station. 

177. Agreeably to this rule, we should always avoid 
concluding with any of those particles which mark the ca- 
ses of nouns; as, of, to„ from, with, by. 

Illus. For instance, it is a great deal better to say, " Avarice is a 
crime of which wise men are often guilty," than to say, " Avarice is a 
crime which wise men are often guilty of." This last is a phraseology 
that, with reason, all correct writers shun : for, besides the want of 
dignity which arises from those monosyllables at the end, the imagin- 
ation cannot avoid resting, for a little, on the import of the word that 
closes the sentence : and, as prepositions have no import of their 
own, but only serve to point out the relations of other words, it is dis- 
agreeable for the mind to be left pausing en a word, which does not, 
by itself, produce any idea, nor form any picture in the fancy. 

178. For the same reason, verbs which are used in a com- 
pound sense, with some of the prepositions, are not beauti- 
ful conclusions of a period. Such verbs as, bring about, 

* Spectator, No. 420.' t Bclingbrok?. 

10 



104 On the Structure of Sentences. 

lay hold of, come over to, clear up, and many other of this 
kind ought to be avoided, if we can employ a simple verb, 
which will always terminate the sentence with more 
strength. 

Obs. Though the pronoun, it, has the import of a substantive noun, 
and indeed often forces itself upon us unavoidably, yet, when we want 
to give dignity to a sentence, this pronoun should, if possible, be avoid- 
ed in the conclusion ; more especially when it is joined with some of 
the prepositions, as, with it, in it, to it. 

179. Besides particles and pronouns, any phrase, which 
expresses a circumstance only, always brings up the rear of 
a sentence with a bad grace. 

Illus. We may judge of this, by the following sentence from Lord 
Bolingbroke : " Let me therefore conclude by repeating, that division 
has caused all the mischief we lament ; that union alone can retrieve 
us ; and that a great advance towards this union was the coalition of 
parties, so happily begun, so successfully carried on, and of late so 
unaccountably neglected ; to say no worse."* This last phrase to say 
no worse, occasions a sad falling off at the end ; so much the more 
unhappy, as the rest of the period is conducted after the manner of a 
climax, whieh we expect to find growing to the last. 

Obs. 1. The proper disposition of such circumstances in a sentence. 
is often attended with considerable trouble, in order to adjust them so, 
that they consist equally with the perspicuity and the grace of the 
period. Though necessary parts, they are, however, like unshapely 
stones in a building, which, to place them with the least offence, try 
the skill of an artist. " Let them be inserted wherever the happiest 
place for them can be found ; as, in a structure composed of. rough 
stones, there are always places where the most irregular and unshape- 
ly may find some adjacent one to which it can be joined, aud some 
basis oh which it may rest."t 

2. The close is always an unsuitable place for them. When the 
sense admits their arrangement, the sooner they are despatched, gen- 
erally speaking, the better ; that the more important and significant 
words may possess the last place, quite disencumbered. It is a rule 
too, never to crowd too many circumstances together, but rather to 
interperse them in different parts of the sentence, joined with the 
capital words on which they depend ; provided that care be taken, as 
was before directed, not to clog those capital words with them. 

180. The last rule, which we have to. offer, relating to 
the strength of a sentence, is, that in the members of a sen- 
tence where two things are compared or contrasted with 
each other ; where either a resemblance or an opposition 
is intended to be expressed ; some resemblance, in the lan- 
guage and construction, should be -preserved. For, when 
the things themselves correspond to each other, we natur- 

* Letter on the State of Parties at the Accession of King George I. 
t " Jungantur quo congruunt maxime ; sicut in structura sasorum rudium, etian. 
ipsaenormitas invenit cui applicari, et in quo possit iusistere." Quinctilian. 



■■■BHHHHBimni 



Perspicuity. 10.5 

'ally expect to find the ivords also corresponding. We are 
disappointed. when it is otherwise ; and the comparison, or 
contrast, appears more imperfect 

Illus. The following- passage from Pope's Preface to his Homer, 
fully exemplifies the rule we have now given : " Homer was the 
greater genius ; Virgil the better artist ; in the one, we most admire 
the man ; in the other, the work. Homer hurries us with a command- 
ing impetuosity ; Virgil leads us with an attractive majesty. Homer 
scatters with a generous prolusion ; Virgil bestows with a carefu.l 
magnificence. Homer, like the Kile, pours out his riches with a sud- 
den overflow ; Virgil, like a, river in its banks, with a constant 

stream. And when we look upon their machines, Homer seems 

like his own Jupiter in his terrors, shaking Olympus, scattering the 
lightnings, and firing the heavens ; Virgil, like the same power in his ^ 
benevolence, counselling with the gods, laying plans for empires, and 
ordering his whole creation." 

. Carol. Periods thus constructed, when introduced with propriety, 
and not returning" too often, have a sensible beauty. But we must 
beware of carrying our attention to this beauty too far. It ought 
only to be occasionally studied, when it is naturally demanded by the 
comparison or opposition of objects. If such a construction as this 
be aimed at in all our sentences, it leads to a disagreeable uniformity „; 
produces a regularly returning clink in the period, which plainly dis- 
covers affectation, and tires the ear like the chime of jingling- verse. 

Scholia. The fundamental rule for the construction of sentences, 
and into which all other rules might bfe resolved, undoubtedly is, to 
communicate, in the clearest and most natural order, the ideas which 
we mean to transfuse into the minds of our hearers or readers. Eve- 
ry arrangement that does most justice to the sense, and expresses it 
to most advantage, strikes us as beautiful. To this point have tended 
all the rules that we have given. And, indeed, did men always think 
clearly, and were they, at the same time, fully masters of the language 
in which they write, there would be occasion for few rules. Their 
sentences would then, of course, acquire all those properties of pre- 
cisian, unity, and strength, which we have recommended. ° For we 
may rest assured," says Dr. Blair,* "'that, whenever we express our- 
selves ill, there is, besides the mismanagement of language^ for the 
most part, some mistake in our manner of conceiving the subject. 
Embarrassed, obscure, and feeble sentences, are generally, if not al- 
ways, the result, of embarrassed, obscure, and feeble thought. Thought 
and language act and re-act upon each other mutually. Logic and 
rhetoric have here, as in many other cases, a strict connection ; and 
he that is learning to arrange his sentences with accuracy and order, 
is learning at the same time, to think with accuracy and order ;" an 
observation which alone will justify all the care and attention which 
we have bestowed on this subject. 

* Lectures on Rhetoric, JL.ect. XII> 



1CK? Perspicuity 

CHAPTER IV. 

PERSPICUITY. 

181. PERSPICUTIY originally and properly signifies 
transparency, such as may be ascribed to air, glass, water, 
or any other medium, through which material objects are 
viewed. From this original and proper sense, it hath been 
metaphorically applied to language, this being, as it were, the 
medium, through which we perceive the notions and senti- 
ments of any speaker or writer. 

Jllus. 1. Now, in natural things, if the medium through which we 
look at any object, be perfectly transparent, our whole attention is 
fixed on the object. If, for instance, we look through the panes of 
glass in any window, we are scarcely sensible that there is a medium 
which intervenes, and can hardly be said to perceive the medium: 
Eut if there be any flaw in the glass, if we see through it but dimly, 
if the obiect be imperfectly represented, or if we know it to be mis- 
represented, our attention- U immediately taken off the object, and 
turned to the medium. We are then desirous to discover the Cause, 
either of the dim and confused representation, or of the misrepresen- 
tation of things which the medium exhibits, or that the defect in vis : 
ion may be supplied by judgment. 

2. The case of language is precisely similar. A discourse, then, 
excels in perspicuity, when the subject engrosses the attention of the 
hearer, and the diction is so little minded by him, that he can scarcely 
be said to be conscious that it is through this medium he sees into the 
speaker's thoughts. 

3. On the contrary, the least obscurity, ambiguity, or confusion in 
the style, instantly removes the attention from the sentiment to the ex- 
pression, and the hearer endeavours, by the aid of reflection, to cor- 
rect the imperfections of the speaker's language. Whatever applica- 
tion he must give to the words, is, in fact, so much deducted from what 
he owes to the sentiments. Besides, the effort which the speaker thus 
requires his hearer to exert in a very close attention to the language, al- 
ways weakens the effect, which the thoughts were intended to produce 
hi the mind of the hearer. 

4. Perspicuity is, of all qualities of style, the first and most essen- 
tial. Every speaker does not propose to please the imagination, nor 
»s every subject susceptible of those ornaments, which conduce to this 
purpose. Much less is it the aim of every speech, to agitate the pas- 
sions. There are some occasions, therefore, in which variety, and 
many in which animation of style, are not necessary ; nay, there are 
occasions on which the last especially would be improper. But what- 
ever be the ultimate intention of the orator, to inform, to convince, to 
please, to moVe, or to persuade, still he must speak so as to be under- 
stood, or he speaks to no purpose. If he do not propose to convey 
certain sentiments into the minds of his hearers, by the aid of signs 
intelligible to them, he may as well declaim before them in an un 
known tongue. This prerogative the intellect hath above all tb« othe^ 



^Hu^ni^nHm 



The Obscure, from Defect. 107 

faculties, that, whether it be or be not immediately addressed by the 
speaker, it must be regarded hy him either ultimately or subordinate- 
iy ; ultimately, when the direct purpose of the discourse is informa- 
tion, or conviction ; subordinated, when the end is pleasure, emotion, 
or persuasion. 

5. Besides, in a discourse wherein either vivacity or animation is re- 
quisite, it is not every sentence that requires, or even admits, of either 
of these qualities ; bat every sentence ought to be perspicuous. The 
effect of all other qualities is lost without this. But this being to the 
understanding, what light is to the eye, ought to be diffused over the 
whole performance. And since perspicuity is more properly a rheto- 
ricial than a grammatical quality, we shall point out the different ways 
in which a writer may fail to produce a style which shall answer the 
conditions of the definition we have given of perspicuity. 

6. A man may, in respect of grammatical purity, speak unexcep- 
tionable', and yet speak obscurely and ambiguously; and though we 
cannot say, that a man may speak properly, and at the same time 
speak unintelligibly ; yet this last case falls more naturally to be con- 
sidered as an offence against perspicuity, than as a violation of pro- 
priety. {Art. 112, 117, and 124.) For when the meaning is not dis- 
covered, the particular impropriety cannot be pointed out. In the 
three different ways, therefore, just now mentioned, perspicuity may 
be violated. 

182. The obscure, from defect, is the first offence against 
perspicuity, and may arise From elliptical expressions. This 
is the converse of precision. {Art. 118.) 

Illus. In Greek and Latin, the frequent suppression of the substan- 
tive verb, and of the possessive and personal pronouns, furnishes in- 
stances of ellipses, which the idiom of most modern tongues, English 
and French particularly, will seldom admit. (Illus. 2. Art. 119.) 

183. Often, indeed, the affectation of conciseness, often 
the rapidity of thought, natural to some writers, will give 
rise to still more material defects in the expression. 

Example. "He is inspired with a true sense of that function, when 
chosen from a regard to the interests of piety and vi; iue."* 

Analysis. Sense, in this passage, denotes an inward feeling, or the 
impression which some sentiment makes upon th* mind. N w a func- 
tion cannot be a sentiment impressed or felt. The expression is there- 
fore defective, and ought to have read thus: "He is inspired with a 
true sense of the dignity, or of the importance, of that function." 

Obs. Obscurities in style arise not merely from deficiency, but from 
excess of expression, and often from the bad choice of words. (.See 
Art. 118, 119, and 123.) 

184. Bad arrrangement is another source of obscurity. 
In this case, the construction is not sufficiently clear. One 
often, on first hearing the sentence, imagines, from the turn 
of it, that it ought to be construed one way, and on reflec- 
tion finds that it must be construed another way. (Art. 143» 
244, and 145.) 

* Guardian, No. 53. 
10* 



108 Perspicuity. 

Example. "I have hopes, that when Will confronts him, aa 
*/je ladies in whose behalf he engages him, cast kind looks and wishes 
of success at their champion, he will have some shame."* 

Analysis. It is impossible not to imagine, on hearing the first part 
of this sentence, that Will is to confront all the ladies ; though af- 
terwards we find it neecessary to construe this clause with the follow- 
ing verb. This confusion is removed at once, by repeating the adverb 
v:hen. 

" I have hopes, that when Will confronts him, and when all the la- 
dies cast kind looks," Slc. 

Carol. Bad arrangement may be justly termed a constructive ambi- 
guity. The words are so disposed, in point of order, as would render 
them really ambiguous, if, in that construction, which the expression 
first suggests, any meaning were exhibited. As this is not the ease, 
the faulty order of the words cannot properly be considered, as ren- 
dering the sentence ambiguous, but obscure. 

185. The same word used in different senses in the same 
sentence, is another source of obscurity. 

Example. "That he should be in earnest, it is hard to conceive; 
since any reasons of doubt, which he might have in this case, would 
have been reasons of doubt in the case of other men, who may give 
■more, but canot give more evident, signs of thought, than their fellow- 
creatures, "t 

Analysis. This errs alike against perspicuity and elegance. The 
first word, more, is an adjective, the comparative of many ; in an in- 
stant it is an adverb, and the sign of the comparative degree. As the 
reader is not apprised of this, the sentence must appear to him, on 
ihe first glance, a flat contradiction. {Art. 122. Tllus. 1 and 2:) 

Correction. "Who may give more numerous, but cannot give more 
evident signs :" or thus, "Who may give more, but cannot give clearer 
sigcs." 

I8u, It is but seldom that the same pronoun can be 
used twice, or oftener, in the same sentence, in reference to 
different things, without darkening the expression. The 
signification of the personal, as well as of the relative pro- 
nouns, and even of the adverbs of place and time, must be 
determined by the things to which they relate. To use 
them, therefore, with reference to different things, is, in ef- 
fect, to employ the same word in different senses; which, 
when it occurs in the same sentence, or in sentences closely 
connected, is rarely found entirely compatible with perspi- 
cuity. (See Art. 152. Illus.) 

Example. "One may have an air which proceeds from a just suffi- 
ciency and knowedge of the matter before him, which may naturally 
produce some motions of his head and body, which might become the 
bench better than the bar."| 

Analysis. The pronoun which is here thrice used in three several 
senses; and it must require reflection to discover, that the first de« 

* Spectator, No, 20. t Bolingbroke's Ph. E«s. I. Sec. 9. $ Guardian, No. ft 



The Double Meaning, iOi- 

notes air, the second, sufficiency and knowledge, and the third, motion? 
of the head and body. 

187. From too artificial a structure of the sentence, ob* 
scurity may arise. This happens when the structure of the 
sentence is too much complicated, or too artificial ; or when 
the sense is too long suspended by parentheses. [Scholia, 
p. 93.) 

Obs. A short parenthesis, introduced in a proper place, will not ixi 
the least hurt the clearness, and may add both to the vivacity, and to 
the energy, of the sentence. (See .Irt. 157.) 

188. Technical terms, injudiciously introduced, is anoth- 
er source of darkness in composition. [See Art. 84. lllus.) 
But in treatises on the principles of any art, they are not 
only convenient, but even necessary. In ridicule too, if 
used sparing! v, as in comedy or romance, they are allowa- 
ble. {Obs. V.Art. 114.) 

189. Long Sentences may be justly accounted liable to 
obscurity, since it is difficult to extend them, without in- 
volving some of the other faults before mentioned. And 
when a long period does not appear obscure, it will always 
be remarked, that all its principal members are similar in 
their structure, and would constitute so many distinct sen- 
tences, if they were not limited, by their reference to some 
common clause in the beginning or the end, (See Art, 
138.) 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE DOUBLE MEANING, OR EQUIVOCATION, 

190. THE double meaning. Perspicuity may be viola- 
ted, not only bv obscurity, but also by double meaning. 
(Art. 119.; 

HIus. The fault in this case is not that the sentence conveys dark- 
ly or imperfectly the author's meaning, but that it conveys also some 
other meaning which is not the author's. His words are susceptible 
of more thau one interpretation. When this happens, it is always 
occasioned, either by using some expression which is equivocal ; that 
is, which hath more meanings than the one which the author affixes to 
it } or by ranging the words in such an order, that the construction is 
rendered equivocal, or made to exhibit different senses. The former 
we term equivocation, the latter ambiguity. (See Dejin 19. p. 79.) 

191. Equivocation. When the word denotes in compo= 



110 Perspicuity. 

sition, as in common language it generally denotes, the use 
of an equivocal word, or phrase, or other ambiguity, with an 
intention to deceive, it differs not essentially from a lie. 

This offence falls under the reproof of the morali f, not the censure 
of the rhetorician. 

192. Again, when the word denotes, as agreeably it may 
denote, that exercise of wit which consists in the playful 
use of any term or phrase in different senses, and which is 
denominated pun, it is amenable, indeed, to the tribunal of 
criticism, but it cannot be regarded as a violation of the 
laws of perspicuity. 

It is neither with the liar nor the punster that we are concerned at 
present. 

193. The only species of equivocation that comes under 
reprehension here, is that which takes place, when an au- 
thor undesignedly employs an expression susceptible of a 
sense different from the sense he intends it should convey. 

Obs. This fault has been illustrated in Articles 113, 121, 122, and 

123. 

194. The equivocation may be either in a single word, 
or in a phrase. 

Mitts. 1. The preposition of denotes sometimes the relation which 
any affection bears to its subject ;* sometimes the relation which it 
bears to its object. 

Example. 1. Hence this expression of the Apostle has been obser- 
ved to be equivocal : " I am persuaded that neither death nor life shall 
be able to separate us from the love o/God."t By the love of God, 
say interpreters, may be understood, either God's love to us, or our 
love to God. 

2. As the preposition of sometimes denotes the relation of the ef- 
fect to the cause, sometimes that of the accident to the subject ; from 
this duplicity of signification, there will also, in certain circumstances, 
ari^e a double meaning. " A little after the reformation of Luther, "% 
is a phrase which suggests as readily a change wrought on Luther as 
a change wrought by him. But the phraseology is intelligible when 
we apply the term reformation to the schism which Luther produced 
in the Catholic Church. 

Illus. 2. The conjunctions shall furnish our second illustration. 

Example. " They were both more ancient among the Persians 
than Zoroaster or Zerdusht."§ 

Analysis. The conjunction or is here equivocal. It serves either 
as a copulative to synonymous words, or as a disjunctive of different 
things. But Zoroaster and Zerdusht mean the same person, therefore 
the sentence is equivocal. 

Corol 1. If the first noun follows an article or a preposition, or 

• That is, the person whose affection it is. t Romans viii« 3S , &c. 

% Swift's Mechanical Operations. 

$ Bolingbroke's Substance of Letters to M. de Pouilly. 



The Doable Meaning* Hi 

both ; the article, or the preposition, or both, should be repeated be= 
fore the second, when the two nouns are intended to denote different 
things > and should not be repeated, when they are intended to denote 
the same thing-. 

2. E£th«re be neither article nor preposition before the first, and it 
it be the intention of 1K3 writer to use the particle or disjunctively, 
let the first noun be preceded by either, which will infallibly ascertain 
the meaning-. 

3. On the contrary, if, in such a dubious case, it be his design to 
use the particle as a copulative to synonymous words, tbe piece will 
rarely sustain a material injury, by omitting both the conjunction and 
synonyma. 

Illus. 3. Pronouns may also be used equivocally. 

Example. " She united the great body of the people in her and then 
common interest."* 

Analysis. The word her may be either the possessive pronoun, or' 
the accusative case of the personal pronoun. A very small alteration 
in the order totally removes the doubt. Say, " in their and htr com- 
mon interest." The word thus connected, can only be the possessive, 
is the author doubtless intended it should be in the passage quoted. 

Illus. 4. Substantives are sometimes used equivocally. 

Example. "Your Majesty has lost all hopes of any future excised" 
by their consumption.' 'f 

w«S»*ysii. The word Zviisurnpiion has boCh an active sense and a pas- 
sive. It means either the act of consuming, or the state of being con- 
i umed. 

Correction. " Your Majesty has lost all hopes of levying any future 
excises on what they shall consume." 

Illus. 5. Adjectives also are used equivocally. 

Example. " As for such animals as are mortal or noxious, we have 
a right to destroy them. "J 

Analysis. Indeed ! all men are liable to death, and all men are ani- 
imals, but we have no right to destroy each other. The word mortal r 
therefore, in this sentence might be justly considered as improper ; (Art. 
117. Illus. 3.) for though it sometimes means destructive, or causing 
death, it is then almost invariably joined with some noun expressive 
af hurt or danger. 

Illus. 6. Verbs often present a false sense more readily than the 
true. 

Example. " The next refuge was to say it was overlooked by ontf 
man, and many passages wholly written by another. M § 

Analysis. The word overlooked sometimes signifies revised, and 
sometimes neglected. But the participle is used here in the former 
sense, therefore the word revised ought to have been preferred. 

Illus: 7. In the next quotation the homonymous term may be either 
an adjective or an adverb, and admits a different sense in each accep- 
tation. 

Example. " Not only Jesuits can equivocate."j| 

Analysis. If the word only is here an adverb, the sense is "to equiv- 
ocate is not the only thing that Jesuits can do." TtwS interpretation, 
though not Dryden's meaning, suits the construction. The proper 
and unequivocal meaning, though a prosaic expression of this sense, 

* Idea of a Patriot King. t Guardian, No. 5?. $ Ibid. No. <5l. 

$ Spectator, No. 19. fl Dryden's Hind and Panther. 



112 Ambiguity* 

is, " Jesuits can not only equivocate " Again, if the word only is hette 
an adjective (and this doubtless is the author's meaning-) the sense is, 
n Jesuits are not the only persons who can equivocate." 

lllus. 8 Equivocal phrases are such as, not the least, not the small- 
est, which may signify '• not any," as though one should *«. v ' n0! ti ' en 
the least, not so much as the smallest; and sometimes again a very gnat, 
as though it were expressed in this manner, far from being (he least 
or smallest. Now since they are susceptible of two significations which 
are not only different, but contrary, they ought to be totally laid aside-. 



CHAPTER VI. 



AMBIGUITY. 

194. THE double meaning arises, not from the use of 
equivocal terms, but solely from the construction ; anil is 
therefore distinguished by the name ambiguity. (See Art. 
190. and lllus. also firt. 151.) 

Ill'dS. In the use of pronouns, the rcfcvenco to the antecedent should 

be so unquestionable, that no false meaning could possibly be sugges- 
ted by the manner of construing the words, of which a sentence may 
be composed. 

Examples. " Solomon, the son of David, who built the temple at Je- 
rusalem, was the richest monarch that ever reigned over the Jewish 
people," and " Solomon, the son of David, who was persecuted by 
Saul, was the richest monarch." 

Analysis. In these two instances, the who is similarly situated ; yet 
in the former, it relates to the person first mentioned ; in the latter, to 
the second. And some previous knowledge of the history of those 
kings is necessary to enable any reader to discover this relation to 
the one or to the other. 

Correction. " Solomon, the son of David, and the builder of the 
temple of Jerusalem, was the richest monarch." 

Example 2. The following quotation exhibits a triple sense, arising 
from the indeterminate use of the relative. 

' Such were the centaurs of Ision's race, 
Who a bright cloud for Juno did embrace."* 

Analysis. Who embraced the cloud, the centaurs, Ixion, or his race P 
The relative ought grammatically t.» refer rather to the centaurs, than 
to either of the other two, and least of all to Ixion, to whom it was 
intended to refer. 

195. The relatives who, which, that, whose and whom, 
often create ambiguity, even when there can be no doubt in 
regard to the antecedent. 

lllus. 1. These pronouns are sometimes explicative, sometimes de- 
termiaative. They are explicative when they serve merely for Uie 

* Denhara's Progress of teaming. 



Ambiguity. 113 

illustration of the subject, by pointing out either some property, or 
some circumstance belonging to it, leaving it, however, to be under- 
Stood in its full extent. 

Examples. " Man. who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full 
of trouble." " Godliness, which wftb contentment is great gain, has 
the promise both of the present life, and of the future." 

Analysis. The clause, " who is born of a woman," in the first ex- 
ample, and " which with contentment is great gain," in the second, 
point to certain properties in the antecedent, but do not restrain their 
signification. For, should we omit these clauses altogether, we could 
say with equal truth, "Man is of few days, and full of trouble," 
" Godliness has the promise both of the present life, and of the future." 

Jllus. 2. On the other hand, these pronouns are determinative, when 
they are employed to limit the import of the antecedent. 

Examples. " The man that endureth to the end shall be saved." 
•* The remorse, which issues in reformation, is true repentance." 

Analysis. Each of the relatives here confines the signification of its 
antecedent to such only as are possessed of the qualification mention- 
ed. For it is not affirmed of every man that he shall be saved ; nor of 
all remorse, that it is true repentance. 

196. From the above examples, it may fairly be collected, 
that with us the definite article is of great use for discrimin- 
ating the explicative sense from the determinative. In the 
first case it is rarely used, in the second, it ought never to 
be omitted, unless when something still more definitive, 
such as a demonstrative pronoun, supplies its place. (Art. 
57. lllus.) 

Example. " I know that all words which are signs of complex ideas, 
furnish matter of mistake and cavil. ,we 

Analysis. As words, the antecedent, has neither the article nor a 
demonstrative pronoun to connect it with the subsequent relative, it 
should seem that the clause, " which are signs of complex ideas," 
was merely explicative, and that the subject words was to be under- 
stood in the utmost latitude. This could not be the noble writer's 
sense, as it would be absurd to affirm of all words, that they are signs 
of complex ideas. 

Correction. " 1 know that all the words which are signs of complex 
ideas ;" or, " I know that all those words which are signs." Either of 
these ways makes the clause beginning with the relative serve to limit 
the import of the antecedent. 

197. In numberless instances we find the pronouns his 
and he used, in like manner, ambiguously ; and the latter 
especially when two or more males happen to be mentioned 
in the same clause of a sentence. 

Obs. In such a case, we ought always either to give another turn 
to the expression, or to use the noun itself, and not the pronoun ; for 
when the repetition of the word is necessarv, it is not offensive. (Illus. 
3. p. 111. and An. 152.; 

• Bolingbroke's Dissertation on Parties, Lect. 12. 



114 Ambiguity. 

198. There is in adjectives especially, a great risk of am- 
biguity, when they are not joined to the substantives to 
which they belong. (Illus. 5./?. 111.) 

Illus. 1. This hazard arises, in our language, from our adjectives 
having no declension, by which case, number, and gender are distin- 
guished. Their relation, therefore, is not otherwise to be ascertained 
than by their place. (Illus. § //. p. 64.) 

Example. " God heapeth favours on his servants ever liberal and 
faithful." 

Analysis. Is it God or his servants that are ever liberal and faith- 
ful ? If the former, then the sentence should run thus ; " Gocl, ever 
liberal and faithful, heapeth favours on his servants." If the latter, 
then " God heapeth favours on his ever liberal and faithful servants," 
er " his servants who are ever liberal and faithful." 

Illus. 2. Two or more adjectives are sometimes made to refer to the 
same substantive, when, in fact, they do not belong to the same thing, 
but to different things, which, being of the same kind, are expressed 
by the same generic name. 

Example. " Both the ecclesiastic, and the secular powers concur- 
red in those measures." 

Analysis. Here the two adjectives, ecclesiastic and secular, relate 
io the same substantive powers, but do not relate to the same individ- 
ual things ; for the powers denominated ecclesiastic are totally dif- 
ferent from those denominated secular. This too common idiom may 
be avoided either by repeating the substantive, or by subjoining the 
substantive to the first adjective, and prefixing the article to the se- 
cond as well as the first. 

Correction. " Both the ecclesiastic powers, and the secular concur- 
red in those measures," or, iS Both the ecclesiastic powers, and the 
secular powers ;" but the former is perhaps preferable. 

199. The construction of substantive nouns is sometimes 
ambiguous. (Illus. 4. p. 111. J 

Example 1. "You shall seldom find a dull fellow of good educa- 
tion, but (if he happen to have any leisure upon his hands) will turn 
his head to one of those two amusements for all fools of eminence, 
politics or poetry."* 

Analysis. The position of the words polities or poetry makes one at 
first imagine, that along with the terms eminence, they are affected by 
the preposition of, and construed with fools. The repetition of the te 
after eminence would have totally removed the ambiguity. 

Example 2. " A rising tomb the Jofty column bore."f 

Analysis. Did tne tomb bear Ihe column, or the column the tomb f 
But this fault is frequent, in the construction of substantives, especially 
in verse, when both what we call the nominative case and the accusa- 
tive are put before the verb. As in nouns those cases are not distin- 
guished either by inflection, or prepositions, so neither can they be 
distinguished in such instances by arrangement. 

200. A mhiguiiy in using the coyijun clions. 

Example. " At least my own private letters leave room for a politi- 
* Spectator, No. 4£ \V Pope's Odyssey, Book 12. 



Ambiguity. 115 

tiara, well versed in matters of this nature, to suspect as much, as a 
penetrating friend of mine tells me." 

Analysis. The particle as, which in this sentence immediately pre- 
cedes the words a penetrating friend, makes frequently a part of these 
compound conjunctions as much as, as well as, as far as. It will, there* 
Fore, naturally appear, at first, to belong' to the words as much, which 
immediately precede it. But as this is not really the case, it ought to 
have been otherwise situated ; for it is not enough that it is separated 
by a comma, these small distinctions in the pointing being but too fre 
quently overlooked. 

Correction. " At least my own private letters, as a penetrating 
friend of mine tells me, leave room for a politician well versed in 
matters of this nature to suspect as much." 

201. Sometimes a particular clause or expression is so 
situated, that it may be construed with different members of 
t\\e same sentence, and thus exhibit different meanings, 
{tikis 8./?. 112. and Art. 151.) 

Example. " It has not a word but what the author religiously thinks 
in iV"* 

Analysis. One would at first imagine the author's meaning to be, 
that it had not a word which the author did not think to be in it. Al- 
ter a little the place of the last two words, and supply the ellipsis, and 
the ambiguity will be removed. 

Correction. " It has not a word in it, bat what the author religiously 
thinks it should contain." 

202. The squinting construction^ another fertile source 
of ambiguity, is, when a clause is so situated in a sentence, 
that one is at first at a loss to know whether it ought to be 
connected with the words which go before, or with those 
which come after. 

Example. "As it is necessary to have the head clear, as well as the 
complexion, to be perfect in this part of learning, I rarely mingle 
with the men, but frequent the tea tables of the ladies. "j 

Analysis. Whether, " to be perfect in this part of learning, is it ne- 
cessary to have the head clear as well as the complexion ;" or, " to 
be perfect in this part of learning, does he rarely mingle with the 
men, but frequent the tea tables of the ladies?" Which ever of these s 
he sen»e, the words ought to have been otherwise arranged. 

* Guardian. No. 4. f Construction louche, it is called bjrthe Frenclf » * 

J Guardian,, No. iff. 

II 



U# Tfie Unintelligible, 

CHAPTER VII. 

OF THE UNINTELLIGIBLE. 

203. UNDER the article precision, Chapter IV, of Book 
II., but more particularly in IHus. 6. Art. 181, it was ob- 
served generally, that a speaker may express himself ob- 
scurely, and so convey his meaning imperfectly to the mind 
of the hearer* In Chapter VI. of this book, it was shewn, 
that he may express himself ambiguously, and so along with 
his own, convey a meaning entirely different. In this 
Chapter, we shall shew that he may even express himself 
unintelligibly, and so convey no meaning at all. This fault 
arises, 

1st. From great confusion of thought, accompanied with 
intricacy of expression: {Art. 121. lllus.) 

2dly. From affectation of excellence in the diction ; 

Sdiy. From a total want of meaning. 

First. The unintelligible from confusion of thought. 

204. Language is the medium through which the senti- 
ments of the writer are perceived by the reader. {Art. 
181.) And though the impurity, or the grossness of the 
medium, will render the image obscure or indistinct, yet no 
purity in the medium will suffice for exhibiting a distinct 
and unvarying image of a confused and unsteady object.* 

IHus. There is a sort of half-formed thoughts, which we sometimes 
find a writer impatient to give the world, before he himself is fully 
possessed of them. Now, if the writer himself perceive confusedly 
and imperfectly the sentiments which he would communicate, it is a 
thousand to one, the reader will not perceive them at all. 

Example 1. In simple sentences. Sir Richard Steele, though a man 
of sense and genius, was a great master in this style ) speaking of 
some of the coffee-house politicians, " I have observed,"' says he, 
" that the superiority among these, proceeds from an opinion of gal- 
lantry and fashion."} 

Analysis. This sentence, considered in itself, evidently conveys no 
meaning. First, it is not said, whose opinion, their own, or that of 
others; secondly, it is not said what opinion, or of what sort, favour- 
able or unfavourable, true or false, but in general an opinion of gal- 
lantry and fashion, which contains no definite expression of any mean- 

*The distinctions in some departments of this Grammar of Rhetoric, are so nice 
that they differ not in kind, but in degree, from one another : yet, if the intermediate 
steps, by which we have passed from one to the other, be removed, we shall at once 
perceive how necessary they were to a full development of the art. Without attend- 
ing to this remark, they who have but superficially glanced at this chapter, would be 
ready to consider it a repetition of the article precision, yet is it totally distinct u> 
very little sagaeitv may soon discover. 

t Spectator, No' 49. 



The Unintelligible. 117 

sng, With the joint assistance of the context, reflection and conjec- 
ture, we shall perhaps conclude that the author intended to say, that 
the rank among these politicians, was determined by the opinion gen- 
erally entertained of the rank in point of gallantry and fashion that 
«ach of them had attained. 

Example 2. Of a complex sentence, which conveys indeed the dull- 
est species of the unintelligible. " The serene aspect of these writers, 
joined with the great encouragement I observe is given to another, 
or. what is indeed to be suspected, in which he indulges himself, con- 
firmed me in the notion I have of the prevalence of ambition this 
way."* 

Analysis. Was it the serene aspect of these writers that confirmed 
him in the notion he had of the prevalence of ambition ? And if so, 
was the prevalence of this ambition a prevalence to obtain, or to pre- 
serve, a " serene aspect ? or to become writers ?" Again, was great 
encouragement given to another man to assume a serene aspect, if he 
had none, or to preserve it if he had such a thing ? Joined to the 
great encouragement given to another, to do what? "In which he in- 
dulges himself" In what? this encouragement, or a serene aspect ? 
In short, the writer talks downright nonsense, for the sentence admits 
Aiot of decomposition. 

205. Secondly. The unintelligible from affectation of 
excellence. In this there is always something figurative ; 
but the figures are remote, and things heterogeneous are 
combined. 

Example 1. In a simple sentence. The Guardian, speaking of meek* 
ness and humility, says, " This temper of soul, keeps our understand- 
ing tight about us."t 

Analysis. This is an incongruous metaphor. The understanding is 
made a girdle to our other mental faculties ; for the fastening of which 
girdle, meekness and humility serve as a buckle. 

Example 2. Yet when that flood in its own depths was drown'd, 
It left behind it false and slippery ground. | 

Analysis. The first of these lines is marvellously nonsensical. It in- 
forms us of a prodigy never heard of before, a drowned flood ; nay, 
which is still more extraordinary, a flood that was so excessively 
deep, that after leaving nothing else to drown, it turned felo-de-se, and 
drowned itself. And doubtless, if a flood can be in danger of drown- 
ing itself, the deeper it is, the danger must be the greater. So far, at 
Seast, the author talks consequentially. The first line itself has no 
meaning ; but the author intended to say, " When the waters of the 
deluge had subsided." 

Example 3. In a complex sentence. "If the savour of things lies 
«ross to honesty, if the fancy be florid, and the appetite high towards 
the subaltern beauties and lower order oi worldly symmetries and pro- 
portions, the conduct will infallibly tarn thi> latter way.'"§ 

Analysis. Here we have lofty images and high sounding words, but 
where 6hall we find the sense ? The meaning, v. here there is a mean- 
ing, cannot be said to be communicated and adorned by the words, 
but is rather buried under the:n. The French critics cail this species 

* Guardian, Xo. 1. t Ibid, X Dryden's Panegvrjc on the Coronation of Charles If«r 
~jf Characteristics, Vol. III. Misc. II. ch. 2- 



118 The Unintdligi&te. 

of writing, or of figure, galimatias; the English call k bombast; an»t 
we may properly define it the sublime of nonsense. 

Example 4. " But what can one do ? or how dispense with these 
darker disquisitions, and moon-light voyagers, when we have to dea \ 
with a sort of moon-blind wits, who, though very acute and able in 
their kind, may be said to renounce day-light, and extinguish, in a 
manner, the bright visible world, by allowing us to know nothing be- 
side what we can prove, by strict and formal demonstration."* * 

Analysis. It must be owned, that the condition of rhose wits is truly 
deplorable; for though very acute and able in their kind, yet being 
moon-light blind, they cannot see by night ; and having renounced 
day-light, they will not see by day ; so that, for any use they have of 
their eyes, they are no better than stone blind. It is astonishing too, 
that the reason for rendering a moon-light voyage indispensable, is, 
that we have moon-blind persons only for our company, the very reft*- 
son which, to our ordinary understanding, would render such a voy» 
age improper. 

\ quanta species, inquit, ast eerebrum non hab&t. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF THE UNINTELLIGIBLE, 

206. THE unintelligible, from want of meaning in 
the writer, proceeds from vacuity of thought. Here the 
sentence is generally simple in its structure, and the con- 
struction easy. 

Ilhis. Let us contrast this with the unintelligible proceeding from 
confusion of thought, accompanied with intricacy of expression. la 
this last, you hesitate at certain intervals, and retrace your progress ; 
finding yourself at a loss in the terms, and at a loss for the meaning, jou 
then try to construe the sentence, and to ascertain the signification of 
the words. By these means, and by the help of the context, you will 
possibly come at last at what the author would have said. In the un- 
intelligible, from want of meaning, provided words, glaringly unsuita- 
ble, are not combined, you proceed without hesitation or doubt. You 
never suspect, that you do not understand a sentence, the terms of 
which are familiar to you, and of which you perceive distinctly the 
grammatical order. But if, by any means, you are induced to think 
more closely on the subject, and to peruse the words a second time 
more attentively ; you will then begin to suspect them, and at length 
discover, that they contain nothing, but either an identical proposition, 
which conveys no knowledge, or a proposition of that kind, of which 
you cannot so much as affirm, that it is either true or false. Sometimes 
pompous metaphors, and sonorous phrases, are injudiciously employed 
to add dignity to the most trivial conceptions ; sometimes they are 
madf the vehicles for nonsense, fn madmen there is as great a varie- 
ty of character, as in those who «njoy the use of their reason. In liko 

* Characteristics, Vpl. III. Misc. IY. 



The Learned Nonsense. 119 

manner, it maybe said of nonsense, that, in writing it, there is as 
great scope for variety of style, as there is in writing- sense. 

207. First, the puerile, which is always produced when 
an author runs on in a species of verbosity, amusing his rea- 
der with synonymous terms, and identical propositions, well 
turned periods, and high sounding words; but at the same 
:ime, using those words so indefinitely, that the reader can 
either affix no meaning to them at all, or he may almost affix 
any meaning that he pleases. 

Example. " Whatever renders a period sweet and pleasant, makes 
it also graceful : a good ear is the gift of Nature, it may be much im- 
p/oved, but not acquired by art ; whoever is possessed of it will 
scarcely -need dry critical precepts to enable him to judge of a true 
rythmus^and melody of composition : just members, accurate propor- 
tions, a musical symphony, magnificent figures, and that decorum, 
which is the result of all these, are unison to the human mind ; we 
are so framed by nature, that their charm is irresistable. Hence all 
ages and nations have been smit with the love of the Muses."* 

Analysis. Through the whole paragraph, the author proceeds in the 
same careless and desultory manner, affording at times some glim 
merings of sense, and perpetually ringing the changes in a few fa- 
vourite words and phrases. 

Example 2. From harmony, from heavenly harmony, 
This universal frame began ; 
From harmony to harmony, 
Through all the compass of the notes it ran, 
The diapason closing full in man.t 
Analysis. This is of the same signature with the former ; there is not 
even a glimpse of meaning through all the compass of the words ; 
>ut in writings of this stamp, we must accept of sound, instead of 
?ense, being assured, at least, that if we meet with little that cau in- 
form the judgment, we shall find nothing that will ollend the ear. 

208. The learned nonsense is another species of the 
unintelligible : and scholastic theology is considered the 
most fruitful source of this species of nonsense, unless, per- 
haps, we include also antiquarian researches. The more 
incomprehensible the subject is, -the greater scope has ^e 
declaimer to talk plausibly, without any meaning. AI^o 
the deeper any speculation be buried in the darkness of re- 
mote antiquity, the wider the field for most excellent mat* 
ter of contemplative amazement. 

Illus. To both these styles of tin* unintelligible, the lines of the 
bard, addressed to the patroness of sophistry, as well as dulness, are 
admirably adapted. 

" Explain upon a thing till all men doubt it; 
And write about it, goddess, and about it.' + 

* GeduVs on the composition of theAneients, Sect. I. 
-* Drvden's Ode for St, Cecelia's day. } Duncia* 

11* 






120 The Unintelligible, 

Example. " Nothing is there to come, and nothing- past] 
But an eternal now does always last."* 

Analysis. What an insatiable thirst hath this bastard philosophy for 
absurdity and contradiction ! In these school metaphysics, a now 
that lasts ; that is, an instant which continues during successive in- 
stants ; an eternal now ; an instant that is no instant, and an eternity 
that is no eternity, is a mere figment of human imagination, a rhap 
sody of t! ; e transcendent unintelligible. 

209. The third species we shall denominate the profound. 
It is most commonly to be met with in political writings. 
No where else, in the present day, do we find the merest 
nothings set off with an air of solemnity, as the result of 
very deep thought and sage reflection. But let us hear a 
politician of the old school. 

Example. 'Tis agreed, that in all governments, there is an absolute 
and unlimited power, which naturally and originally seems to be 
placed in the whole body, wherever the executive part of it lies. This 
holds of the body natural ; for wherever we place the beginning of 
motion, whether from the head, or the heart, or the animal spirits in 
general, the body moves and acts by consent of all its parts. f 

Analysis. The first sentence in this passage contains one of the most 
hackneyed maxims of the writers on politics; a maxim, however, of 
which it will be more difficult than is commonly imagined, to discov- 
er, not the justness, but the sense. The illustration from the material 
body, contained in the second sentence, is indeed more glaringly non- 
sensical. It is utterly inconceivable to affirm what it is that consti- 
tutes this consent of all the parts of the body, which must be obtained 
previously to every motion. Yet the whole paragraph from which 
this quotation is taken, has in it such a speciousness, that it is a ques- 
tion, if even a judicious reader will not, on the first perusal, be sensi- 
ble of the defect. 

210. The marvellous is the last species of nonsense that 
we shall exemplify. It is the characteristic of this kind, 
that it astonishes, and even confounds, by the boldness of 
the affirmations, which always appear flatly to contradict 
the plainest dictates of common sense, and thus to involve 
a manifest absurdity. 

Example. " Nature in herself is unseemly, and he who copies her 
servilely, and without artifice, will always produce something poor, 
and of a mean taste. What is called load in colours and lights, can 
<»nly proceed from a profound knowledge in the values of colours, and 
from an admirable industry, which makes the painted objects appear 
more true, if I may say so, than the real ones. In this sense, it may 
be asserted, that in Rubens' pieces, art is above nature, and nature on- 
ly a copy of that great master's works. "^ 

* Cowley's Davideis, Book I. 

f Swift's Discourse of the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome. 
t''La Nature est instate d'el'e meme et qui s attacheroit a la copier simp'ement 
eorome ei;e est, et sans artifice, feroit toujours quclque chose de panvrc et d'un tres 
■jetit gout. Ce que v ou$ noiaiae s exagerations dam let couleurs, ct dans les lumiere? 



The Unintelligible 1 12 i 

Analysis. What a strange subversion, or inversion, if you will, oi' 
all tiie most obvious and hitherto undisputed truths ! Ps T ot satisfied 
with affirming the unseemliness of every production of Nature, whom 
this philosopher has, discovered to be an arrant bungler, and the im- 
mense superiority of human art, whose humble scholar dame Nature* 
might be proud to be accounted, he rises to asseverations, which shock 
all our notions, and utterly defy the powers of apprehension. Paint- 
ing is found to be the original; or rather Rubens' pictures are the 
original, and nature is the copy ; and indeed very consequentially, the 
former is represented as the standard by which the beauty and perfec- 
tions of the latter are to be estimated. Nor do the qualifying phrases, 
4t If I may say so," and "in this sense it may be asserted," make here 
the smallest odds. For as this sublime critic has no where hinted what 
sense it is which he denominates "this sense," no reader will be able 
to conjecture, what the author might have said, and not absurdly said 
to the same effect. When the expression is stripped of the absurd 
meaning, (Art- 204.) there remains nothing but balderdash, an un- 
meaning jumble of words, which at first seem to announce some great 
discovery. 

Example 2. Witness, as another specimen of the same kind, the 
famous prostration of an heroic lover, in one of Dry den's plays : 
"My wound is great, because it is so small." 

Analysis. The nonsense of this was properly exposed, by an extem- 
pore verse of the Duke of Buckingham, who, on hearing this line, ex- 
claimed, in the house, 

It would be greater, were it none at all. 

Conclusion. Thus have we illustrated, as far as example can illus- 
trate, some of the principal varieties to be remarked in unmeaning 
sentences or nonsense ; the puerile, the learned, the profound, and 
the marvellous ; together with those other classes of the unintelligible, 
arising either from confusion of thought, accompanied with intricacy 
of expression, or from an excessive aim at excellence in the style and 
manner. 



CHAPTER IX. 

OF THE HARMONY OF PERIODS, 

211. IN the harmony of periods, two things may be 
vxmsidered. First, agreeable sound, or modulation in gene- 
ral, without any particular expression: next, the sound so 
ordered, as to become expressive of the sense. The first is 
the more common ; the second, the higher beauty. 

est une admirable industree que fait parcitre les objects peints plui veritables, s'il faut 
ainsi dire, que les veritables metrics. C'est ainsi qae les tableaux de Rubens sont 
plus beaux que !a Mature, la quel' . semble rf etre que ta opie des ouvrat;es de ce grand 
hommc." Receuil de divers ouvrage sur la pcinture et lc coloris, Par M. de Pitek 
Paris, j 775. p. juj. 



122 The Harmony of Po, 

Ohs. Agreeable sound, in genera 
Structed sentence. This beauty e. in prose de- 

pends upon two things ; the choice of words, anr! tl ntnl of 

thens. 

212. Those words are most agreeable to ihe ear which 
are composed of smooth and liquid sounds, where there is 
a proper intermixture of vowels and consonants; without 
too many harsh consonants grating: upon each other; or too 
many open vowels in succession, to cause a hiatus, or disa- 
greeable aperture of the mouth. (Mas. Art. 13.) 

Illus.. It may always be assumed as a principle; that, whatever 
sounds are difficult in pronunciation, are, in the same proportion. 
harsh and painful to the ear. Vowels give softness; consonants, 
strength to the sounds of words. The music >.if language requires a 
just proportion of both; and it will be hurt, and rendered either grat- 
ing or effeminate, by an excess of either. Long - words are common!* 
more agreeable to the ear than monosyllables. They please it by thf 
composition or succession of sounds, which they present to it; and, 
accordingly, the most musical languages abound most in polys;.! 
Among words of any length, those are the most musical, which do not 
run wholly either upon long or short syllables, but are composed of 
an intermixture of them ; such as, repent, produce, velocity, celerity, 
independent, impetuosity. 

213. The harmony which results from a proper arrange- 
ment of the words' and members of a period, is complex, 
and of great nicety. For let the words themselves be ever 
so well chosen, let them sound ever so well, yet, if they be 
ill disposed, the music of the sentence is utterly lost. ( Sco 
Hum, p. 86. Art. 138.) 

Illus. 1. In the harmonious structure and disposition of periods, no 
writer whatever, ancient or modern, equals Cicero. He had studied 
this with care ; and was fond, perhaps to excess, of what he calls the 
' | Lena ac numerosa oratio.' We need only open his writings tr* 
find instances that will render the effect of musical language sensible 
to every ear. 

2. As an instance of a musical sentence in our own language, we 
may take the following from Milton's Treatise on Education: "We 
shall conduct you to a hill-side, laborious, indeed, at the first ascent ; 
but else, so smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospects, and melodi 
ous sounds on every side, that the harp of Orpheus was not more 
charming." 

Analysis. Every thing in this sentence conspires to promote the har- 
mony. The words are happily chosen; full of liquids and soft sounds; 
laborious, smooth, green, goodly, melodious, charming : and these words' 
so artfully arranged, that were we to-f.der the collocation of any one oO 
them, we should, presently, be sensible of the melody's suffering. For, 
lef us observe, how finely the members of the period swell one above 
another. u So smooth, so green," — u so full of goodly prospects, and 
mel >dious sounds on every side ;" — till the ear, prepared by this grad- 
ual rise, is conducted to that full close on which it rests with pleasure ; 
— -" that the harp of Orpheus was not more charming." 



The Harmony of Periods. 123 

214. The structure of periods, then, being susceptible of 
«>f a very sensible melody, our next inquiry should be, how 
this melodious structure is formed, what are the principles 
of it, and by what laws is it regulated? {Art. 138. lllus.) 

Obs. The ancient rhetoricians have entered into a very minute and 
particular detail of this subject ; more particular, indeed, than into 
any other that regards language. 

Illu3. They hold, that to prose, as well as to verse, there belong cer- 
tain numbers, less strict indeed, yet such as can be ascertained by rule. 
They go so far as to specify the feet, as they are called, that is, the 
succession of long and short syllables, which should enter into the dif- 
ferent members of a sentence, and to shew what the effect of each of 
these will be. Wherever they treat of the structure of sentences, it is 
always the music of them that makes the principal object. Cicero and 
Quinctilian are full of this. The other qualities of precision, Unity, 
and strength, which we consider as of great importance, they handle 
slightly; but when they come to the " funttura et Humerus," the modu^ 
lation and harmony, there they are copious. Dyonisius, of Halicar- 
nassus, one of the most judicious critics of antiquity, wrote a treatise 
on the Composition of Words in a Sentence, which is altogether con- 
fined to their musical effect. He makes the excellency of a sentence 
to consist in four things ; first, in the sweetness of single sounds ; se- 
condly, in the composition of sounds; that is, the numbers, or feet; 
thirdly, in change, or variety of sound; and, fourthly, in sound suited 
to the sense. On all these points, he writes with great accuracy and 
refinement, and is very worthy of being consulted. 

2. The ancient languages of Greece and Rome, were much more 
susceptible, than our language is, of the graces and the powers of 
melody. The quantities of their syllables were more fixed and deter- 
mined; their words were longer and more sonorous ; their method of 
varying the terminations of nouns and verbs, both introduced a greater 
variety of liquid sounds, and freed them from that multiplicity of lit- 
tle auxiliary words which we are obliged to employ ; and, what is of 
the greatest consequence, the inversions which their languages allow- 
ed, gave them the power of placing their words in whatever order 
was most suited to a musical arrangement. All these were great ad- 
vantages, which they enjoyed above us," for harmony of period. 

£15. The doctrine of the Greek and Roman critics, on 
this head, has misled some to imagine, that it might be 
equally applied to our tongue ; and that our prose writing 
might be regulated by spondees and trochees, and iambuses 
and pseons, and other metrical feet. 

Obs. 1. But, first, our words cannot be measured, or, at least, can 
be measured very imperfectly by any feet of this kind. For, the 
quantity, the length and shortness of our syllables, is far from being so 
fixed and subjected to rule, as in the Greek and Roman tongues ; but 
very often left arbitrary, and determined only by the emphasis and the 
sense. 

2. Next, though our prose could admit of such a metrical regula- 
tion, yet from our plainer method of pronouncing every species of 
discourse, the effect would not be at all so sensible to the ear, nor be 
relished with so much pleasure, as among the Greeks and Romans, 



*i24 The Harmon}/ of Periods. 

3. And, lastly, this whole doctrine about the measares and mitit- 
bers of prose, even as it has been delivered by the ancient rhetoricians 
themselves, is, in truth, in a great measure, loose and uncertain. It 
appears, indeed, that the melody of discourse was a matter of infinite- 
ly more attention to them, than ever it has been to the moderns. But 
though they write a great deal about it, they have never been able to 
reduce it to any rules which could be of real use in practice. 

Illus. If we consult Cicero's Orator, where this point is discussed 
with the most minuteness, we shall see how much these ancient critics 
differed from one another, about the feet proper for the conclusion., 
and other parts of a sentence ; and hew much, after all, was left to 
the judgment of the ear. Nor, indeed, is it possible to give precise 
rules concerning this matter, in any language ; as all prose composi- 
tion must be allowed to run loose in its numbers ; and, according as 
the tenor of a discourse varies, the modulation of sentences must 
vary infinitely. 

216. But though this musical arrangement cannot be re- 
duced into a system, every one who studies to write with 
grace, or to pronounce in public with success, will find him- 
self obliged to attend to it not a little. But it is his ear, 
cultivated by attention and practice, that must chiefly direct 
him. For any rules that can be given on this subject, are 
very general. There are some rules, however, which may 
be of use to form the ear to the proper harmony of discourse, 

217. There are two things on which the music of a sen- 
tence chiefly depends. These are, the proper distribution 
<®f the several members of the sentence ? *«4? the close or 
cadence of the whole. ( Art. 1 34.) 

218. First, the distribution of the several members. It 
is of importance to observe, that, whatever is easy and agree- 
able to the organs of speech, always sounds grateful to the 
ear. While a period is going on, the termination of each of 
its members forms a pause, or rest, in pronouncing: and 
these rests should be so distributed, as to make the course of 
the breathing easy, and, at the same time, should fall at such 
distances, as to bear a certain musical proportion to each, 
other. (Art. 144.; 

Example 1. " This discourse concerning the easiness of God's com- 
mands, does, all along, suppose and acknowledge the difficulties of 
the first entrance upon a religious course ; except only in those per- 
sons who have had the happiness to be trained up to religion by the 
easy and insensible degrees of a pious and virtuous education."* 

Analysis. Here there is no harmony ; nay, there is some degree of 
harshness and unpleasantness: owing principally tu this, that there is, 
properly, r»o more than one pause or rest in the sentence, falling 
betwixt the two members into which it is divided ; each of which is 
so long, as to occasion a considerable stretch of the brsath in prc^ 
itmnchig it, 

* Tillotssm 



The Harmony of Periods. 125 

Example 2. Observe, now, on the other hand, the ease with which 
the following sentence, from Sir William Temple, glides along, and 
the graceful intervals at which the pauses are placed. He is speak 
ing sarcastically of man : " But, God be thanked, his pride is greater 
than his ignorance, and what he wants in knowledge, he supplies by 
sufficiency. When he has looked about him, as far as he can, he con- 
cludes, there is no more to be seen ; when he is at the end of his line, 
he is at the bottom of the ocean ; when he has shot his best, he is sure 
none ever did, or even can, shoot better or beyond it. His own reason 
he holds to be the certain measure of truth ; and his own knowledge, 
of what is possible in nature."* 

Analysis. Here every thing is, at once, easy to the breath, and 
grateful to the ear ; and, t is this sort of flowing measure, this regular 
and proportional division of the members of his sentences, which 
renders Sir William Temple's style always agreeable. We must 
ob?erve, at the same time, that a sentence, with too many rests, and 
these placed at intervals too apparently measured and regular, is apt 
-to savour of affectation. 

219. The next thing to be attended to, is- the close or ca- 
dence of the whole sentence, which, as it is always the part 
most sensible to the ear, demands the greatest care. " Let 
there be nothing harsh or abrupt in the conclusion of the 
sentence, on which the mind pauses and rests. This is the 
most material part in the structure of discourse. Here ev- 
ery hearer expects to be gratified ; here his applause breaks 

forth."t 

220. The only important rule that can be given here, is, 
that when we aim at dignity or elevation, the sound should 
be made to grow to the last ; the longest members of the pe- 
riod, and the fullest and most sonorous words, should be 
reserved to the conclusion. 

Example. " ItfUls the nind (i. e. sight) with the largest variety of 
ideas *, converses with its objects at the greatest distance ; and con- 
tinues the longest in action, without being tired or satiated with its 
proper enjoyments. "J 

Analysis. Every reader must be sensible of a beauty here, both in 
the proper division of the members and pauses, and the manner in 
which the sentence is rounded, and conducted to a full and harmoni- 
ous close. The sight fills the mmd with the largest variety of ideas, 

* Or this instance. He is addressing himself to Lady Essex, upon the death of 
her child : " I was once in hope, that what was so violent could not be long : but, 
when I observed jour grief to grow stronger with age and to increase, like a stream, 
the farther it ran ; when I saw it draw out to such unhappy consequences, and to 
threaten no less than your child, your health and your life, I could no longer for- 
biai this endeavour, nor end i{ without begging of you, for God's sake and for your 
own, for your children and your friends, your country and your family, that you 
would no longer abandon yourself to a disconsolate passion ; but that you would, a'; 
length, awaken your piety, give way to your prudence, or, at least, roust the in- 
vincible spirit of the Percy's, that never yet shrunk at any disaster." 

t " Non igitur durum sit. neque abruption, quo animi. velut, respirant ac refici<;n* 
tur. Hvec est sedes otationis; hoc auditor expectat ; hie laus onrnis declamat., 
Quinetiiiam 

* Addison. 



] 26 The Harmony of Periods. 

and it converses with them. To sentient natures, this is a pleasure , 
but it converses with them at the greatest distance, and must necessa~ 
rily increase this pleasure. For what can be more agreeable than the 
commerce of communication with distant objects ; but how is this 
agreeableness heightened, by its being kept long in action, and that 
too without being tired or satiated with its proper enjoyment? 

221. The same holds in melody, that was observed to 
take place with respect to significance ; that a falling off at 
the end is always injurious to the object which the speaker 
has in view. For this reason, particles, pronouns, and little 
words, are as ungracious to the ear, at the conclusion, as we 
formerly shewed they were inconsistent with strength of 
expression. {»8rt. 176, 177, 178, and 179.) 

Obs. The sense and the sound have here a mutual influence on each 
other. That which hurts the ear, seems to mar the strength of the 
meaning ; and that which really degrades the sense, in consequence of 
this primary effect, appears also to have a bad sound. 

Example. How disagreeable is the following sentence of an author, 
speaking of the Trinity ! " It is a mystery, which we firmly believe 
the truth of, and humbly adore the depth of." And how easily might 
"it have been mended by this transposition! "It is a mystery, the 
truth of which we firmly believe, and the depth of which we humbly 
adore." 

Corol. In general, it seems to hold, that a musical close, in our lan- 
guage, requires either the last syllable, or the last but one, to be a long 
syllable. Words which consist mostly of short syllables, as contrary, 
particular, retrospect, seldom conclude a sentence harmoniously, unless 
a train of long syllables, before, has rendered them agreeable to the 
ear. 

222. Sentences, so constructed as to make the sound al- 
ways swell and grow towards the end, and to rest either on 
a long or a penult long syllable, give a discourse the tone of 
declamation. The ear soon becomes acquainted with the 
melody, and is apt to be cloyed with it. If we would keep 
lip the attention of the reader or hearer, if we would pre- 
serve vivacity and strength in our composition, we must be 
very attentive to vary our measures. 

lllus. This regards the distribution of the members, as well as the 
cadence of the period. Sentences constructed in a similar manner, 
with the pauses falling at equal intervals, should never follow one 
another. Short sentences should be intermixed with long and swell- 
ing ones, to render discourse sprightly as well as magnificent. Even 
discords properly introduced, abrupt sounds, departures from regular 
cadence, have sometimes a good effect. Monotony is the great fault 
into which writers are apt to fall, who are fond of harmonious ar- 
rangement : and to have only one tune or measure, is not much better 
than having none at all. A very vulgar ear will enable a writer to 
catch some one melody, and to form the run of his sentences accord- 
ing to it. This soon proves disgusting, Bnt a just and correct ear i* 



Tlie Harmony of Periods. 127 

requisite for varying- and diversifying the melody, and hence we sel- 
dom meet with authors, who are remarkably happy in this respect. 

223. Though attention to the music of sentences must 
not be neglected, yet it must also be kept within proper 
bounds: for all appearances of an author's affecting; harmo- 
ny, are disagreeable ; especially when the love of it betrays 
him so far, as to sacrifice, in any ostance, perspicuity, pre- 
cision, or strength in sentiment, to sound. (Example 1. 
rfrt. 206.) 

Jllus. 1. All unmeaning words, introduced merely to round the 
pciod, or fill up the melody, are great blemishes in writing. They 
are childish and puerile ornaments, by which a sentence always loses 
more in point of weight, than it can gain by such additions to the 
beauty of its sound. 

2. Sense has its own harmony, as well as sound ; and, where the 
sense of a period is expressed with clearness, force, and dignity, the 
words will almost always strike the ear agreeably ; at least, a very 
moderate attention is all that is requisite for making the cadence of 
such a period pleasing : and the effect of greater attention is often no 
other, than to render composition languid and enervated. 

3. After all the labour which Quinctilian bestows on regulating the 
measures of prose, he comes at last, with his usual good sense, to this 
conclusion : " Upon the whole, I would rather choose that composi- 
tion should appear rough and harsh, if that be necessary, than that 
it should be enervated and effeminate, such as we find the style of too 
many. Some sentences, therefore, which we have studiously formed 
into melody, should be thrown loose, that they may not seem too much 
laboured ; nor ought we ever to omit any proper or expressive word, 
for the sake of smoothing a period."* 

4. Cicero, as we have elsewhere observed, is one of the most re- 
markable patterns of a harmonious style. His love of it, ho.vever, is 
too visible ; and the pomp of his numbers sometimes detracts from his 
strength. 

5. That noted close of his, esse videalur, which, in the oration Pro 
Lege Manilla, occurs eleven times, exposed him to censure among his 
contemporaries. We must observe, however, in defence of this great 
orator, that, in his style, there is a remarkable union of harmony with 
«ase, which is always a great beauty ; and if his harmony were studi- 
ed, that study appears to have cost him but little trouble. 

6. Among our English classics, not many are distinguished for musi- 
cal arrangement. Milton, in some of his prose works, has very finely 
turned periods ; but the writers of his age indulged a liberty of inver- 
sion, which would now be reckoned contrary to purity of style : and 
though this allowed thoir sentences to be more stately and sonorous, 
yet it gave them too much of a Latinised construction and order. 

7. Of English writers, Lord Shaftesbury is, upon the whole, the 
most correct in his numbers. As his ear was delicate, he has attend- 
ed to music in all his sentences ; and he is peculiarly happy in this 

* " In universum, si sit necesse, duram potius atque asperam compositionem ma- 
iim esse, quaru effeminatam ac enervem, qualis apud multos. Ide&que, vincta 
quadam de industria sunt solvenda, ne laborata videantur ; neque ullutn idoneuai 
aut aptum vcrbum prxtermittamus, gratia lenitatfe." Lib. ix. c. 4. 

12 



1 28 The Harmony of Periods, 

respect, that he has avoided the monotony into which writers, who 
study the grace of sound, are very apt to fall, and has diversified his 
periods with great variety. 

8. Addison has also much harmony in his style ; more easy and 
smooth, but less varied than Lord Shaftesbury. Sir William Temple 
is, in general, very flowing and agreeable. Archbishop Tillotson is 
often careless and languid ; and is much outdone by Bishop Atterbury 
in the music of his periods. Dean Swift despised musical arrange- 
ment altogether. Burke excels in harmonious periods. Johnson's 
style is generally pompous, sometimes lofty, and always Latinised. 

Corol. Hitherto we have considered agreeable sound, or modulation T 
in general. It yet remains to treat of a higher beauty of this kind ;. 
tite sound adapted to the sense. The former was no more than a 
simple accompaniment, to please the ear ; the latter supposes the pecu- 
liar expression given to the music. We may remark two degrees of 
it : first, the current of sound, adapted to the tenour of a discourse : 
next, a particular resemblance effected between some object, and the 
sounds that are employed in describing it. 

224. First, the current of sound may be adapted to the 
tenour of a discourse. Sounds have, in many respects, a cor- 
respondence with ourideas ; partly natural, partly the effect 
of artificial associations. Hence it happens, that any one 
modulation of sound continued, imprints on our style a cer- 
tain character and expression. 

Illus. Sentences constructed with the Johnsonian fulness and swell, 
produce the impression of what is important, magnificent, sedate ; for 
this is the natural tone which such a course of sentiment assumes. — ■ 
But they suit no violent passion, no eager reasoning, no familiar ad- 
dress. These always require measures brisker, easier, and often more 
abrupt. And, therefore, to swell, or to let down the periods, as the 
subject demands, is a very important rule in oratory. No one tenour 
whatever, supposing it to produce no bad effect from satiety, will an- 
swer to all different compositions ; nor even to all the parts of the 
same composition. It were as absurd to write a panegyric, and an 
invective, in a style of the same «adence, as to set the words of a 

nder love-song to the air of a warlike march. 

Corol. What is requisite, therefore, is, that we previously fix, in 
our mind, a just idea of the general tone of sound which suits our sub- 
ject ; that is, which the sentiments we are to express, most naturally 
assume, and in which they most commonly vent themselves ; whether 
round and smooth, or stately and solemn, or brisk and quick, or in- 
terrupted and abrupt. 

225. But, besides the general correspondence of the cur- 
rent of sound with the current of thought, there may be a 
more particular expression attempted, of certain objects, by 
means of resembling sounds. This can be sometimes ac- 
complished in prose composition ; but there only in a more 
faint degree ; nor is it there so much expected. In poetry, 
chiefly, it is looked for ; when attention to sound is more 
demanded, and where the inversions and liberties of poetic- 
al style give us a greater command of euphony. 



Resemblance between Sound and Sense. 1$9 

CHAPTER X. 

•RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN SOUND AND SENSE INVERSION. 

226. THE sounds of words may be employed for repre- 
senting, chiefly, three classes of objects; first, other sounds ; 
secondly, motion; and, thirdly, the emotions and passions 
of our mind. 

Tllus. Though two motions have no connection, yet in many par- 
ticulars they m;\v be said to have a resemblance. The motions of 
a vortex and a whirlwind are perfectly similar. All mankind have 
felt the analogy between dancing- and music. All quick, or slow, or 
difficult motions, though performed in different circumstances, and 
by different agents, may in loose phraseology be said to resemble one 
-another. Spoken language is a collection of successive and signifi 
cant sounds, uttered by the speaker ; composition is a certain series 
of those sounds, indicated by a particular sign to each, (Art. ST.) which 
can be run over by the reader; and it is obvious, that the motion of 
the voice of the speaker or the reader may resemble most other mo- 
tions, at least in the general properties of quickness, slowness, ease, 
or difficulty. This is the foundation of the resemblance that takes 
place between the sound and the sense, in the construction of Ian 
guage. 

22r. Words or sentences consisting chiefly of short syl- 
lables, and of course pronounced with rapidity, bear an anal- 
ogy to quick motion, and may fairly be said to form a re- 
semblance of it ; as, impetuosity, precipitation. 

Example Virgil describes a horse at full gallop, in the following 
picturesque line. 

<; Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.* 
Example 2. The same author paints the rapid flight of a pigeo* 
hastening to her nest. 

'• Radit iter liquidum eeleres neque commovet alas * 

228 ; The English heroic verse affords not a proper pic 
tu re of quick motion. It is limited to ten syllables, while, 
the hexameter may extend from thirteen to seventeen. The 
hexameter acquires this advantage by the admission of five 
feet of dactyles, which throw into the line a large proportion 
of short syllables; and the preceding lines of Virgil are per- 
tinent examples. The English heroic verse cannot aug- 
ment the number of its syllables, and preserve its measure. 
The only resource left to our poets in this case is, to em- 
ploy an Alexandrine line, consisting of twelve syllables. 

lllus. Pope has frequently adopted this expedient, but with little 
success ; for of all the poetical lines we have, the Alexandrine is per- 
haps the slowest, as it consists generally ofuionosyUables,, which, to be 



130 Resemblance between Sound and Sense. 

understood, must be slowly pronounced. This was Pope's own opin- 
ion ; for, he observes, ia his Essay on Criticism, that 

" A. needless Alexandrine ends the song, 
And like a v ouuded snake drags its slow length along* 

Example. But Pi pe. notwithstanding, makes use of this verse to 

describe quick motion. 

f Vot so when swift I arailla scours the plain, 

Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main." 

Analysis. It is probab:?, that this great poet sacrificed, on this and 
some Cvh.. j r similar occasions, a portion of his own taste to gratify the 
public ear. He was ctmscious the verse was faultv, but perhaps con- 
cluded, that many of his readers would take for a beauty, what was 
really a blemish ; that those who could discern the error, would dis- 
cern also the proper apology for it ; or would allow him, when he 
could not imitate a quick motion, to approach it as near as possible, 
by substituting in its place the continuance of a slow one. 

229. A word consisting of long syllables, or a sentence 
of monosyllables, may resemble solemn, harsh, or difficult 
motion, as, forewarn, mankind. 

Example 1. Thus Pope, in his Essay on Criticism, 
" But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, 
The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar." 

Example 2. Again, 

" With many a weary step, and many a groan, 
Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone." 

Analysis. The last line possesses uncommon beauty ; for, besides 
that the words are all monosyllables, which renders a pause necessary 
after each of them in the pronunciation, the artful repetition of the as- 
piration paints very forcibly the loss of breath under which Sisyphus 
might be supposed to labour from the violent exertion of his force. 
This circumstance is not in the original, which also possesses extraor- 
dinary merit. Homer fixes his attention on the muscular exertions, 
and the motions of Sisyphus. He has, however, the advantage of his 
translator, by the superiority his language gives him, in contrasting 
the slow and difficult motion" upwards, with the rapid and furious mo- 
tion downwards* 

230. Pope employs again the Alexandrine to describe the 
motion downward. 

Example. " The huge round stone resulting with a bound, 

Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground." 

231. Easy or smooth motion may be painted by a succes- 
sion of soft and harmonious sounds. 

■f The lines in the original run thus : 

il Kai fxrjv Y.iav(f>ov el^tiSov Kparip' aXzyi e^ovra 
Aaav fiaoaXpvra ite\u>(>lov d[x<por(p/]Tiv 
Jlroi b fjicv fxa^a cKfjirTd/jievoi %cpeiv re rrdatv re 
Aaav avu> wdicKE iron Ao^>ov, aX' bre fiiWoi 



Aiepov VTrep6aXXhiv, ror' airosptyaoKt Kparagt 
"Aung sneiTa iriSovds KvXivScro Aaaj avaicys ' 



Resemblance between Sound and Sense. .131 

-.sample* ' Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, 

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows." 

Pope's Essay on Criticism. 

232. Virgil, describing the gay and easy motion of the 
nymph iEgle, says, 

Example. " Addit se sociam, timidisque supervenit M$e. n Ecloga VI. Silcnus, 

233. Pope has been very successful in contrasting the 
*wo kinds off motion last mentioned. la the first four lines 
of the following quotation, he ridicules the affected pomp 
and harshness of the versification of Sir Richard Blackmore. 
.In the last four lines, he opposes to his solemnity and harsh- 
ness the inanimate but smooth composition of the writers of 
panegyrics. 

•' What, like Sir Richard, rumbling, rough and fierce, 
With arms, and George, and Brunswick, crowd my verse; 
Rend with tremenduous sounds your ears asunder. 
With gun, drum, trumpet, bloiuk-rbuss, and thunder 2 
Then all your muses softer aits display : 
Let Carolina smooth the tuneful lay ; 
Lull with Amelia's liquid name the nine, 
And sweetly flow -o'er all the royal lint." 

234. Violent or slow motions may be. imitated by abrupt 
and heavy, or harsh words and lines, as horrid, harrow, 
hoarse. 

Example. Again, Pope : 

4i Loud sounds the air, redoubling strokes on strokes, 

On all sides round the forest hurls her oaks 

Headlong. Deep echoing grcan the tnickets brown, 

Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down." 
<( First march the heavy mules securely slow, 

O'er hills, o'er dales, o*er crags, o'er 'rocks they go " Iliad XXIII. 138. 
" When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, 

The line' too labors, and the words move slow." Essay on Criticism, 370, 

235. Virgil, describing the efforts of the Cyclops in form- 
ing the thunder, thus sings: 

" Illi inter sese magna vi brachia toilunt." (Gear. 4.) 

236. Words may be so modulated, that their sound shall 
be expressive of the dispositions and emotions of the mind. 
Accordingly, a verse or line, composed mostly of mono- 
syllables, or of long syllables, and of course slowly pronoun- 
ced, prompts the notion of dignity and solemnity. Pope 
thus describes Nestor: 

" Slow -from his seat arose the Pylian sage." 

'• Next Comus, reverend sire, went footing slow." Milton. 

'• Oli sedato respondit corde Latinus.". JEntid. 

" Incedit tardo molomime gubsidendo." l 7 j'ul 

237. Harsh and disagreeable sounds suggest the same 
emotions, which arise from beholding any exertion perform- 
ed imperfectly, or with difficulty : 



132 Inversion. 

— — •" When they list, their lean and flashy songs 

Harsh grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw." Milton's Lyciddft 

238. Virgil, with much modesty, thus characterises his- 
own poetry in his Eclogues. 

" Nam neque adhuc Varo videor, nee dicere China 
Digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser olores." 

239. The frequent repetition of the letter r in the last 
Terse is very descriptive of the rudeness and harshness of 
fead verses. Thus, Pope : 

" Just writes to make his barrenness appear, 

And strains from hard-bound brains eight lines a year." Letter to Arbuthnot. 

240. Smooth and easy verses generate an emotion allied 
to joy and vivacity. It is difficult to decide whether the 
sentiment, or the versification of the following example is 
more sprightly. 

" Bright as the sun her eyes the gazers strike ; 

And like the sun they shine on all alike. 

Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride 

Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide. 

If to her share some female errors fall, 

Look on her face, and you'U forget them all." Rape of the Lock. 

241. The 9iow and solemn sound of the subsequent verses- 
prompts an emotion similar to melancholy. 

" In these deep solitudes and awful cells, 

Where heavenly pensive contemplation dwells, 

And ever-musing melancholy reigns." Eloisa to Abelard. 

242. Inversion is a branch of ornament, and of that 
species of it which belongs both to the sound and the sense. 
It belongs to the sound, because by transposing the natural 
and grammatical order of the words, arrangements may be 
formed more agreeable to the ear than could otherwise be ob- 
tained. It is connected with the sense, because by suspen- 
ding the appearance of some capital word or circumstance, 
curiosity may be excited, and artfully prolonged, till the 
conclusion of the period discloses the mystery, and impress- 
es the sense deeper on the mind. 

Illus. 1. The object of inversion, then, is to attain some beauty or 
impulse that cannot be obtained by preserving the natural order. 
This attainment is the same with that of grammatical perspicuity : 
and hence arises an invariable principle, to limit the extent of inver- 
sion ; namely, it must seek no embellishment which would be bought 
too dear ; it must admit no modulation which may produce obscurity. 

2. Different kinds of composition, and different languages, admit 
different degrees of inversion. All discourse addressed to the under- 
standing, seldom permits much inversion. More of it is allowed in 
works addressed to the imagination, and most of all in those produc- 
tions which are intended to rouse and interest the passions and emo- 
tions of the heart. The cool and philosophical construction of mod- 
ern languages, also, renders them much less susceptible of inversio» 
than the ancient. (Art. 24—30. and 171 .) 



Inversion, 13$ 

£43. There arc several words, however, in all languages, 
which cannot easily be separated from one another, and 
which cannot therefore admit much inversion. 

Illus. 1. One substantive depending on another is seldom, in prose 
at least, in any language, disjoined from it. " The beauty of virtue,' 
" via virtutis," " boos apm;?." But in the poetry of Greece and Rome, 
such words are frequently separated. 

,; Arma viruraque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris." 

" M>jvtv auSt Qta n-^Xjji'afow AxiXrios'* Ilicts. I. 1. 

2. A preposition is seldom disjoined from its substantive. From 
east lo west; ava ?parov ; ex sententia. (Art. 71.) 

3. An adjective is almost always associated with its substantive in 
the modern languages, and very frequently in the ancient. (Art. 59. 
and Illus. 143.) 

4. An adverb is generally adjoined to its verb or adjective both in 
ancient and modern languages, because, having no inflection, juxtapo- 
sition only can denote its relation. (Art. 145.) 

Carol. These observations circumscribe the subject of inquiry within 
certain limits^ and discriminate the parts of speech, in the disposition 
of which we have most reason to expect inversion. It appears, then, 
that they are the principal parts of sentences, the agect and the action, 
or the nominative and the verb. (Art. 144. and 134.) 

5. In the languages of Greece and Rome, it seems perfectly arbitral 
ry in what part of the sentence the nominative is placed. We find it 
in the beginning of the sentence, or separated by half, sometimes by 
the whole sentence, from the verb it governs. (Art. 143. Illus. 2, 
Art. 23.) 

6. The verb undergoes the same variety of positions. It stands in 
the beginning, sometimes in the middle, but most frequently in the end 
of the sentence. 

Obs. Of ail these positions examples are so numerous, that we shall 
not produce any. The variety of terminations which inflection fur- 
nishes to the ancient languages is sufficient, in all these circumstances., 
to distinguish the relations of the agent and the action, and to preserve 
perspicuity. 

244. The inversions of modern languages are much less 
frequent and violent, and the following are the most common 
of which our language is susceptible. 

245. A circumstance is sometimes situated before the 
nominative. 

Example. " In order,'* says Addison, " to set this matter in a clear 
light to every reader, I shall, in the first place, observe, that a meta- 
phor is a simile in one word." This arrangement is more agreeable, 
and perhaps more perspicuous, than the natural one. " I shnll, in the 
first place, observe, in order to set this matter in a clear light to every 
reader, that a metaphor is a simile in one word." 

.346. Sometimes a circumstance is inserted after the 

* Sec Example 1. Art. 249, 



1 34 Inversion. 

nominative, and before or between the auxiliary and the 
verb, (lllus. 7 \ and 8. p. 89.) 

Example. " I have formerly, with a good deal of attention, consid- 
ered the subject upon which you command me to communicate my 
thoughts." This is, perhaps, not inferior to the natural order. u l 
have formerly considered, with a good deal of attention, the subject 
on which you command me to communicate my thoughts." 

247. The nominative is placed after the verb. But this 
inversion is restricted almost entirely to poetry, where it 
has often a pleasing effect ; witness the following examples 
from the fourth Book of Paradise Lost. 

" Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet, 
"With charm of earliest birds ; pleasant the sun, 
When first on this delightful land he spreads 
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower 
Glist'ring with dew ; fragrant the fertile earth 
After soft showers, and sweet the coming oa 
Of grateful evening mild.' - 

248. The placing of the nominative after the verb is one of 
the most easy inversions of which our language is suscepti- 
ble ; and, as it affords an agreeable variety, and is perfectly 
consistent with perspicuity, it should not be permitted to 
fall into disuse. It was formerly frequent in prose, and still 
appears in that species of composition with dignity and 
grace. 

Example 1. " There exists not in nature a more miserable animal, 
than a bad man at war with himself." 

2. "In splendid robes appeared the queen." 

3. The following quotations are found in Hume's History of Eng- 
land. Speaking of Charles I. " He had formed one of the most illus- 
trious characters of his age, had not the extreme narrowness of his 
genius in every thing but war sullied the lustre of his other talents." 
" Had the limitations on the prerogative been in his time quite fixed, 
his integrity had made him regard as sacred the boundaries of the 
constitution." 

249. Another very frequent inversion, in poetry, stations 
the subject in the beginning of a sentence, and sometimes 
throws in a circumstance between the subject and its verb. 

Example 1. The first verses in the Iliad are thus translated by Pope . 

" Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring 
Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly Goddess, sing." 

Example 2. Paradise Lost opens in a similar manner : 

" Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 
"With loss of Eden, till one greater man 
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat. 
Sing, heavenly muse ! " 



Inversion- 135 

Example 3. Thomson's Autumn commences in the following strain ; 

" Crown'd with the sickle and the wheaten sheaf, 
While Autumn, nodding o'er the yellow plain, 
Comes jovial on. the Doric reed once more 
\Vell-pleas*d I tune." 

Illus. This inversion, though proper and beautiful in poetry, appears 
scarcely tolerable in prose. (See Art. 171. in the example, from Gor- 
don^ Translation of Tacitus.) 

250. A noun preceded by a preposition very frequently 
appears before a verb. 

Example. '• By these we acquired our liberties," said the Scotch no- 
bles, laying their hands on their swords, " and with these will we de- 
fend them."* 

Analysis. This order is much preferable in point of emphasis to the 
natural one. How tame is the natural order ! " We acquired our 
liberties by these, and we will defend them with these." (See Jlrl. 124. 
Illus. 20. p. 80.) 

Schol. 1. These inversions deviate little from the order of ideas, or 
the grammatical order of the words ; and, though they suspend the 
meaning, they hurt not the perspicuity. This analogy between the 
succession of ideas, and the arrangement of words, is one of the prin- 
cipal beauties of modern languages, which the ancients relinquish in 
order to attain other beauties in point of melody ; and it is perhaps 
impossible to propose any general principle by which the preference of 
these beauties may be decided. (Obs.Jirt. 27.) 

2. The ancients would complain, perhaps, of the tameness and sim- 
plicity of our arrangement, while we might reprehend the artifice and 
obscurity of their inversion. They would reprobate our neglect of 
harmony, while we might expose their apparent attachment to sound 
move than to sense. Such, at least, is the power of habit, that a period 
of Latin or Greek, arranged in grammatical order, would excite dis- 
gust, and a period of English in the order of Greek or Latin would 

appear rirliculoua or unintelligible. | 

* Robertson's History of Scotland. 

t In conjunction with these articles en Ir.z-trsien. the student should neruse Chzv- 
ter IV. Booh r * 



OF FIGURES. 



CHAPTER I. 

©F THE CHARACTER AND ADVANTAGES OF FIGURES* 

251. FIGURES, in general, may be described to be that 
language, which is prompted either by the imagination, or 
hy the passions. (Chap. 111. B. L) 

252. Rhetoricians commonly divide them into two great 
classes ; Figures of words, and figures of thought. 

253. Figures of words, are commonly called tropes. A 
trope consists in a word's being employed to signify some- 
thing that is different from its original and primitive mean- 
ing ; so that if you alter the word, you destroy the figure. 

ILlus. Thus, in the sentences ; " Light ariseth to the upright in 
darkness :" the trope consists in " light and darkness," being not 
meant literally, but substituted for comfort and adversity, on account of 
some resemblance or analogy which light and darkness are supposed 
to bear to these conditions of life. (See Ulus. 2. Art. 19.) 

254. Figures of thought, suppose the words to be used in 
their proper and literal meaning, and the figure to consist in 
the turn of the thought. They appear in exclamations, in- 
terrogations, apostrophes, and comparisons ; where, though 
you vary the words that are used, or translate them from 
one language into another, you may, nevertheless, still pre- 
serve the same figure in the thought. (Ulus. 3. Art. 19.) 

065. This distinction, however, is of no great use ; as nothing can 
be built upon it in practice : neither is it always very clear. It is of 
little importance, whether we give to some particular mode of expres- 
sion the name of a trope, or of a figure ; provided we remember, 4hat 
figurative language always imports some colouring of the imagination, 
or some emotion of passion, expressed in our style : and, perhaps, 
figures of imagination, and figures of passion, might be a more useful 
distribution of the subject. But, M'ithout insisting on any artificial 
(divisions, it will be more useful, that we inquire into the advantage;, 
which language derives from Jig teres of speech. 



Mgures. 13/ 

9.55. First, tropes, or figures, enrich language, and 
rentier it more copious. By their means, words and phrases 
are multiplied for expressing all sorts of ideas ; for descri- 
bing even the minutest differences ; the nicest shades and 
colours of thought ; which no language could possibly do by 
proper words alone, without assistance from tropes. (Art. 21.) 

256. Secondly, they bestoiv dignity upon style. The fa- 
miliarity of common words, to which our ears are much ac- 
customed, tends to degrade style. When we want to adapt 
our language to the tone of an elevated subject, we should 
be greatly at a loss, if we could not borrow assistance from 
figures ; which, properly employed, have a similar effect on 
language, with what is produced by the rich and splendid 
dress of a person of rank ; to create respect, and to give an 
air of magnificence to him who wears it. Assistance of this 
kind is often needed in prose compositions ; but poetry 
could not subsist without it. Hence, figures form the con- 
stant langu age of poetry. (A rt: 21.) 

Jllus. 1. To say, that l the sun rises," is trite and common ; but it 
becomes a mignificeut image when expressed as Thompson has done . 

But yonder comes the powerful king of day, 
Rejoicing in the east. 

2. To say, that u All men are subject alike to death," presents only a 
vulgar idea ; but it rises and fills the imagination when painted thus by 
Horace : 

Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede, pauperum tabernas 
Regumque turres.* 

Or, 

Omnes eodem cogimur ; omnium, 

Vtrsatur uma. serius, ocyus, 
Sors exitura, et nos in eternum 

Exitium impositura cymbee.t 

9.57. In the third place, figures give us the pleasure of 
enjoying tivo objects presented together without confusion, 
to our view ; the principal idea, that is the subject of the 
discourse, along with its accessory, which gives it the figu- 
rative dress. We see one thing in another, as Aristotle ex- 
presses it ; which is always agreeable to the mind. For 
thet is nothing with which the fancy is more delighted, 
than with comparisons and resemblances of objects ; and all 

* With equal pace impartial fate 
Knocks at the palace, as tf»e cottage gate. 

t We all must tread the paths of fate; 
And ever shakes the mortal urn, 
Whose lot embarks us, soon or late, 
On Charon's boat ; ah ! nerer to return. Francis, 



138 Mgures. 

tropes are founded upon some relation or analogy between 
one thing and another. 

Illus. When, for instance, in place of " youth," we say, the 
" morning- of life ;" the fancy is immediately entertained with all the 
resembling circumstances which presently occur between these two 
objects. At one moment, we have before us a certain period of hu- 
man life, and a certain time of the day, so related to each other, that 
the imagination plays between them with pleasure, and contemplates 
two similar objects, in one view, without embarrassment or confusion. 
Not only so, but, 

258. In the fourth place, figures are attended with this 
farther advantage, of giving us frequently a much clearer 
and more striking view of the principal object, than- we could 
have if it were expressed in simple terms, and divested of its 
accessory idea. 

Illus. 1. This is, indeed, their principal advantage, in virtue of which 
they are very properly said to illustrate a subject, or to throw light 
upon it. For they exhibit the object, on which they are employed, in 
a picturesque form ; they can render an abstract conception, in some 
degree, an object of sense ; they surround it with such circumstances 
as enable the mind to lay hold of it steadily, and to contemplate it fully. 

Example " Those persons," says one, " who gain the hearts of most 
people, who are chosen as the companions of their softer hours, and 
their reliefs from anxiety and care, are seldom persons of shining qual- 
ities, or strong virtues : it is rather the soft green of the soul on which 
we rest our eyes, that are fatigued with beholding- more glaring ob- 
jects." Here, by a happy allusion to a colour, the whole conception is 
in one word conveyed clear and strong to the mind. 

Illus. 2. By a well chosen figure, even conviction is assisted, and the 
impression of a truth upon the mind made more lively and forcible 
than it would otherwise be. 

Examples. " When we dip too deep in pleasure, we always stir a 
sediment that renders it impure and noxious :"* " A heart boiling with 
violent passions, will always send up infatuating furoes to the head." 
An ima^e that presents so much congruity between a moral and a sen- 
sible idea, serves, like an argument from analogy, to enforce what the 
author asserts, and to induce belief. 

Illus. 3. Besides, whether we are endeavouring to raise sentiments of 
pleasure or aversion, we can always heighten the emotion by the figures 
which we introduce ; leading the imagination to a train, either of 
agreeable or disagreeable, of exalting or debasing ideas, correspondent 
to the impression which we seek to make. When we want to render 
an object beautiful or magnificent, we borrow images from all the most 
beautiful or splendid scenes of nature ; we thereby, naturally throw a 
lustre over oar object ; we enliven the reader's mind, and dispose him 
to "O along with as, in the gay and pleasing impressions which we 
«rive him of the subject. This effect of figures is happily touched in 
the following lines of Dr. Akenside, and illustrated by 'a, very sublime 
fi^ufe: 

* Df . Totals- 



Tabic of Figures. 139 

■ Then the inexpressive strain 
Diffuses its enchantment. Fancy dreams 
Of sacred fountains aiul Elysian groves, 
And vales of bliss, the intellectual Power 
Hends from his awful throne a wond'ring ear, 
And smiles. — — Pleasures of Imagination, I. 124. 

Scholium. What we have now explained, concerning- the character 
and advantages of figures, naturally leads us to reflect on the wonder- 
ful power of language ; nor can we reflect on it without the highest 
admiration. What a fine vehicle is it now become for all the concep- 
tions of the human mind ; even for the most subtle and delicate work- 
ings of the imagination ! What a pliant and flexible instrument in the 
hand of one who can employ it skilfully ; prepared to take every form 
which he chuses to give it ! Not content with a simple coinmuni- 
-cation of ideas and thoughts, it paints those ideas to the eye : it gives 
colouring and relievo, even to the most abstract conceptions. In the 
figures which it uses, it sets mirrors before us, where we may, a second 
*ime, behold objects in their likeness. It entertains us, as with a suc- 
cession of the most splendid pictures ■; disposes, in the most artificial 
manner, of the light and shade, for viewing every thing to the best ad- 
vantage ; iu fine, from being a rude and imperfect interpreter ofmen'y 
wants and necessities, it has now passed into an instrument of the most 
delicate and refined luxury. 

259. All tropes are founded on the relation which one 
object bears to another ; in virtue of which, the name of the 
one can be substituted instead of the name of the other ; 
and by such a substitution, the vivacity of the idea is com- 
monly meant to be increased. These relations, sonic more, 
some less intimate, may all give rise to tropes. 

260. To illustrate these relations, we have constructed 
the following 

Table of Figures, which, among related objects, extend 
the properties of one to another. 

I. An attribute of the cause, expressed as an attribute of the effect, 

.._.„. To my adve nt' rous song, 

That with no middle Might intends to soar. Paradise Lost. 

II. An attribute of the effect, expressed as an attribute of. the. cause 

No wonder, fallen such a pernicious height. Par. Lost. 

III. An effect expressed as an attribute of the cause. 

Jovial wine Musing midnight 

Giddy drink Panting height 

Drowsy night Jlslonuked thought. 

And the merry bells ring round, 

And tliejacujid rebecks sound. Allegro. 

IV. An attribute for a subject bestowed upon one of its parts «v 
members ; as, longing arms. 

It was the nightingale, and not the lark, 
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.* 

* Romeo and Juliet, Act III. Scene 5. 
13 



140 Table of Figures. 



V. A quality of the agent given to the instrument, with which it op- 
erates. 

Why peep your coward swords half out of their shells ? 

VI. The means or instrument conceived to be the agent. 

A broken rock the force of Pirus threw. 

VII. The chief circumstance conceived to be the patient. 

Whose hunger has not tasted food these three dayst« 

VIII. An attribute of the agent given to the subject, upon which it 
operates. 

High-climbing hill. Milton. 

IX. A quality of one subject given to another. 

When shapeless age, and weak feeble limbs, 

Should bring thy father to his drooping chair. Shakespeare. 

By ait, the pilot through the boiling deep. 

And howling tempest, steers the fearless ship. Iliad, xxiii. 385. 

X. A circumstance connected with a subject, expressed as a quality 
of the subject. 

""Tis ours the chance of fighting fields to try. Iliad, i. 301. 

£61. The several relations upon which figures of speech 
are commonly founded, are epitomized in the following two 
tables : one of subjects expressed figuratively, and one of 

attributes. 

FIRST TABLE. 
Subjects expressed figuratively. 

t. A word proper to one subject, employed figuratively, to express 
a resembling subject. 

Illus. 1. There is no figure of speech so frequent, as that which is 
derived from the relation of resemblance ; as, morning of life, for 
youlh. (Illus. Jlrt. 257.) 

Analysis. The life of man resembles a natural day, in several par- 
ticulars : the morning is the beginning of day ; youth, the beginning 
of life ; the morning is cheerful ; so is youth, &.c. 

2. By another resemblance, a multitude of troubles are, a sea of 
trouble ; and a bold warrior is, the thunderbolt of war. 

Corol. This figure, above all others, affords pleasure to the mind, bv 
variety of beauties. It possesses, among others, the beauty of a meta- 
phor, or of a simile. A figure of speech, built upon resemblance, al- 
ways suggests a comparison between the principal subject, and the 
accessory. Hence, by this figure, every good effect of a metaphor, or 
simile, may be produced in a short and lively manner. 

II. A word proper to the effect, employed figuratively, to express 
the cause ; as, shadow, for cloud ; glittering tower, for helmet ; u?n- 
brage or shadow, for tree. 

Where the dun umbrage hangs. Spring. 1. 1023. 

t Jane Shore. 



Table of Figures. U; 



A wound is made to signify an arrow. 

Vulnere nou pedibus te consequar. Ovid. 

Analysis. There is a peculiar force and beauty in this ; the word, 
which signifies figuratively the principal subject, denotes it to be a 
xiause, by suggesting the effect. 

HI. A word proper to the cause, emploj'ed figuratively to express the 
effect ; as, grief, sorrow, for (ears. 

Again, Ulysses veil'd his pensive head : 
Again, unmann'd, a ahow'r of sorrow shed. 
Streaming £t/c/ - his faded cheek bedewed. 

Blindness, for darkness. 

Ccecis erramus in nudis. uEntid, iii. 200. 

.Analysis. There is a peculiar beauty in this figure, similar to that in 
the former : the figurative name denotes the subject to be an effect by 
suggesting its cause. 

IV. Two things being intimately connected, the proper name of the 
one employed figuratively to signify the other. 

Illus. Day, for light. Night, for darkness ; and hence, a sudden 
night. Winter, for a storm at sea : 

Interea magno laiseeri murmure pontum, 
Emissamque Hyemem sensit Neptuiius. JEneid, i. 128. 

V. A word proper to an attribute, employed figuratively to denote 
the subject. 

Youth and beauty shall be laid in dust. 

Majesty, for king; as in Hamlet, Act i. Scene 1. 

What art thou, that usurp'st this time of night., 
Together with that fair and warlike form, 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 
Did sometimes march? 

Analysis. The peculiar beauty of this figure arises from suggesting 
an attribute that embellishes the subject, or puts it in a stronger light; 

VI. A complex term, employed figuratively to denote one of^the 
component parts ; as, funus, for a dead body ; burial, for a grave. 

VII. The name of one of the component parts, instead of the com- 
plex term ; as, the east, for a country situated east from us. Jovis 
vestigia servat, for imitating Jupiter in general. 

VIII. A word signifying time or place, employed figuratively to de- 
note what is connected with it. 

Illus. Clime, for season, or for a constitution of government : hence 
the expression, merciful clime, fleecy winter, for snow, secvlwn felix. 

IX. A part, for the whole ; as, the pole, for the earth ; the head, for 
the person. 

Triginta minas pro capite tuo dedi. Plautus. 

Analysis. The peculiar beauty of this figure consists in marking that 
part, which makes the greatest figure. 

X. The name of the container, to signify what is contained. 

Illus. Grove, for birds in it ; as, vocal grove. Ships for the seamen ; 
as, agonizing skips. Mountains for the sheep pasturing on them ; as, 
bleating mountains. The kettle for the water ; as, the kettle boils. 

XI. The name of the sustainer, to signify what is sustained. 



H£ f Table of Figures. 

Jllus. Altar, for sacrifice ; field, fipr the battle fought upon *t ; &$ . 
well-fought field. (§ X. p. 140.) 

XII. The name of the materials, to signify the things made of them ; 
as, hemp, for rope ; coW s/ce/, for a sword ; £eac?, for a bullet. 

XiII. The names of the Gods and Goddesses, employed figuratively, 
to signify what they patronize. 

Ilhis. Jove for the air, Mars for war, Venus for beauty, Cupid for 
love, Ceres for corn, Neptune for the sea, Vulcan for fire. 

This figure bostows great elevation upon the subject ; and therefore 
ought to be confined to the higher strains of poetry. 



SECOND TABLE. 
Attributes expressed figuratively. 

f. When two attributes are connected, the name of the one raaj' be 
employed figuratively, to express the other. 

Jllus. Purity for virginity. These are attributes of the same person 
or tiling ; hence the expression, virgin snow, for pure snow; virgin 
gold, for gold unalloyed. 

II. A word signifying properly an attribute of one subject, employed 
figuratively to express a resembling attribute of another subject. 

flhts. 1 . Tottering state, imperious ocean, angry flood, raging tempest , 
r.hallow fears. 

My sure divinity shall bear the shield, 

And edge thy sword to reap the glorious field. Ocly~<iey, xx. 61. 

-. Black omen, for an omen that portends bad fortune : as, ffler odor 
Virgil. 

Obs. The peculiar beauty of this figure, arises from suggesting a 
comparison. 

HI. A word proper to the subject, employed to express one of its 
attributes. 

Jllus. Mind, for intellect ; mind, for resolution. 

IV. When two subjects have a resemblance by a common quality, 
the name of the one subject may be employed figuratively, to denote 
that quality in the other ; as, summer, for agreeable life. 

V. The name of the instrument, made to signify the power of employ- 
ing it. 

----- Melpomene, cui liquidam pater 
Yacem cum cithara, dedit. 

Scholium. The ample field of figurative expression, displayed in 
these tables, affords great scope for reasoning, ajs we shall find in the 
subsequent analyses of figurative language. 



Metaphor. 14S 

CHAPTER II. 

METAPHOR. 

262. METAPHOR is a figure founded entirely on the 
resemblance which one subject bears to another, Hence, it 
is much allied to simile, or comparison ; and is indeed no 
other than a comparison, expressed in an abridged form. 

(Art. 260.) 

Illus. When of some great minister it is said, u that he upholds the 
stale, like a pillar which supports the weight of a whole edifice," a 
comparison is made ; but when it is said of such a minister, " that he 
is the pillar of the ?!ate," it is now become a metaphor. 

Analysis. The comparison betwixt the minister and a pillar, is made 
in the mind ; bat is expressed without any of the words that denote 
comparison. The comparison is only insinuated, not expressed ; the 
one object is supposed to be so like the other, that without formally 
drawing the comparison, the name of the one may be put in \he place 
of the name of the other. { - The minister is the pdlar of the state." 
This, therefore, is a more lively and animated manner of expressing 
the resemblances which imagination traces among objects. There is 
nothing that delights the fancy more than this act of comparing things 
together, discovering resemblances between them, and describing them 
by their likeness. The mind thus employed, is exercised without being 
fatigued ; and is gratified with the consciousness of its own ingenuity, 
(3diolium.p : \3'J.) 

26ft. Though all metaphor imports comparison, and, 
therefore, is, in that respect, a figure of thought ; yet, as 
the words in a metaphor are not taken literally, but chang- 
ed from their proper to a figurative sense, the metaphor is 
commonly ranked among tropes or figures of words. (Ex- 
ample, Art. 245.) But, provided the nature of it be well 
understood, it signifies very little whether we call it a 
figure or a trope. (Qbs. Jlrt. 254.) 

Illus. 1. We have confined it to the expression of resemblance be- 
tween two objects. We must remark, however, that the word meta- 
phor is sometimes used in a looser and more extended sense ; for the 
application of a term in any figurative signification, whether the figure 
be founded on resemblance, or on some other relation which two ob- 
jects bear to one another. 

Example. For instance ; when gray hairs are put for old age, as. 
:i to bring one's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave ;" some writers 
would call this a metaphor, though it is not properly one, but what 
rhetoricians call a metonymy ; that is, the effect put for the cause ; 
(§. II. p. 139.) " gray hairs" being the effect of old age, but not beat 
ing any sort of resemblance to it 

13* 



144 Metaphor, 

264. Of all the figures of speech, none comes so near f& 
painting as metaphor. Its peculiar effect is to give light 
and strength to description ; to make intellectual ideas, in 
some sort, visible to the eye, by giving them colour, and sub- 
stance, and sensible qualities. In order, however, to pro- 
duce this eifect, a delicate hand is required ; for, by a very 
little inaccuracy, we are in hazard of introducing confusion, 
in place of promoting perspicuity. (Art. 2.57.) 

Hius. Several rules, therefore, are necessary to be given for the 
proper management of metaphor. But, before entering on these, we 
shall give one instance of a very beautiful metaphor, that we may 
shew the figure to full advantage. We shall take our instance from 
Lord Bolingbroke's Remarks on the History of England. Just at the 
conclusion of his work, he is speaking of the behaviour of Charles J. 
to his last parliament : u In a word," says he, " about a month after 
their meeting, he dissolved them ; and, as soon as he had dissolved 
them, he repented ; but he repented too late of his rashness. Well 
might he repent, for the vessel was now full, and this last drop made 
the waters of bitterness overflow." — '• Here," he adds, " we draw the 
curtain, and put an end to our remarks." 

Analysis. Nothing could be more happily thrown off. The meta- 
phor, we sec, is continued through several expressions. The vessel is 
put for the state or temper of the nation already frill, that is, provoked 
to the highest by former oppressions and wrongs ; this last dro}i, 
stands for the provocation recently received by the abrupt dissolution 
of the parliament ; and the overflowing of (he ivafers of bitterness, beau- 
tifully expresses all the effects of resentment let loose by an exaspera- 
ted people. 

Scholia. Nothing forms a more spirited and dignified conclusion of 
a subject, than a figure of this kind happily placed at the close. We 
see the effect of it in this instance. The author goes ofl*with a good 
grace ; and leaves a strong and full impression of his subject on the 
reader's mind. A metaphor has frequently an advantage above a for- 
mal comparison. How much would the sentiment here have been en- 
feebled, if it had been expressed in the style of a regular simile, thus : 
" Well might he repent ; for the state of the nation, louded with 
grievances and provocation, resembled a vessel that was now full, and 
this superadded provocation, like the last drop infused, made their 
rage and resentment, as waters of bitterness, overflow." It has infi- 
nitely more spirit and force as it now stands, in the form of a metaphor. 
•• Well might he repent ; for the vessel was now full ; and this last 
drop made the waters of bitterness overflow." 

265. The first rule to be observed in the conduct of meta- 
phors, is, that they be suited to the nature of the subject of 
which we treat : neither too many, nor too gay ; nor too 
elevated for it ; that we neither attempt to force the subject > 
by means of them, into a degree of elevation which is not 
congruous to it ; nor, on the other hand, allow it to sink be- 
*ow its proper dignity. (Art. 258. lllus. 3.) 

Uhs- 1. This is a direction which belongs to all figurative language 



Metaphor. 14$ 

and should be ever kept in view, Some metaphors are allowable, nay, 
beautiful in poetry, which it would be absurd and unnatural to employ 
in prose ; some may be graceful in orations, which would be very im- 
proper in historical or philosophical composition. 

2. We must remember that figures are the dress of our sentiments, 

3. As there is a natural congruity between dress and the character 
or rank of the person who wears it, a violation of this congruity never 
fails to be injurious to the person ; the same holds precisely as to the 
application of figures to sentiment. 

4. The excessive or unseasonable employment of them is mere fop- 
pery in writing. It gives a bovish air to composition ; and instead of 
raising a subject, in fact, diminishes its dignity. For, as in life, tru<; 
dignity must be founded on character, not on dress and appearance, 
so the dignity of composition must arise from sentiment and thought, 
not from ornament. The affectation and parade of ornament, detract 
as much from an author, as they do from a man. (Jirt. 128.) 

Corol. 1. Figures and metaphors, therefore, should, on no occasion, 
be stuck on too profusely ; nor should they ever be such as refuse to 
accord with the strain of our sentiment. 

2. Nothing can be more unnatural, than for a writer to carry on a 
strain of reasoning, in the same sort of figurative language which he 
would use in description. When he reasons, we look only for perspi- 
cuity ; when he describes, we expect embellishment ; when he divides, 
or relates, we desire plainness and simplicity. 

Scholia. One of the greatest secrets in composition is, to know when 
fo be simple. This always gives a heightening to ornament, in its 
proper place. The right disposition of the shade makes the light and 
colouring strike the more. u He is truly eloquent who can discourse 
of humble subjects in a plain style, who can treat important ones wkh 
dignity, and speak of things which are of a middle nature, in a tem- 
perate strain. For one who, upon no occasion, can express himself inj 
a calm, orderly, distinct manner, when he begins to be on fire before 
his readers are prepared to kindle along with him, has the appearance 
of raving like a madman among persons who are in their senses, or of 
reeling like a drunkard, in the midst of sober company."* This ad- 
monition should be particularly attended to by young practitioners in 
the art of writing, who are apt to be carried away by an uh distin- 
guishing admiration of what is showy and florid, whether in its place 
or not.f 

266. The second rule which we give, respects the choice 
of objects, from whence metaphors, and other figures, are to 
be drawn. 

* " Is enim est eloquens, qui et humilia subtiliter, et magna graviter, et mediocvia 
temperate, potest dicere. Nam qui nihil potest tranquilie, nihil leniter, nihil definite, 
distincte, potest dicere, is. cum non prseparatis auribus inilammare rem ciepit, furere 
apud sanos, ct quasi inter sobrios baechari temulentus videtur " Cicero. 

t What person of the least taste can bear the following passage in an historian ? 
He is giving an account of the famous act of parliament against irregular marriages 
in Lnglaiid : " The bill, says he, •' underwent a great number of alterations and 
amendments, which were not effected without violent contest." This is plain lan- 
guage, suited to the subject; and we naturally expect, that, he should go on in the 
*ame strain, to tell us, that after these contests, it was carried by a great majority of 
voices, and obtained the royal assent. But how does he express himself in finishing 
the period ; " At length, however, it was floated through bath houses on the tide of 
a great majority, and steered into the safe harbour of royal approbation." Nothing 
can be more puerile tliat such language. Smollett's History of England, quoted in 
'he Critical Review for Oct, 1761, p. 251. 



10 Metaphor. 



lllus, 1. The field for figurative language is very wide. Ail nature^ 
to speak in the style of figures, opens its stores to us, and admits us to 
gather, from all sensible objects, whatever can illustrate intellectual or 
moral ideas. .Not only the gay and splendid objects of sense, but the 
grave, the terrifying, and even the gloomy and dismal, may, on differ- 
ent occasions, be introduced into figures with propriety. 

2. But we must beware of ever using such allusions as raise in the 
mind disagreeable, mean, vulgar, or dirty ideas. Even when meta- 
phors are chosen in order to vilify and degrade any object, an author 
should study never to be nauseous in his allusions. But, in subjects 
of dignity, it is an unpardonable fault to introduce mean and vulgar 
metaphors. 

Obs. 1. In the treatise on the Art of Sinking, in Dean Swift's works, 
there is a full and humorous collection of instances of this kind, where- 
in authors, instead of exalting, have contrived to degrade their sub- 
jects by the figures which they employed. 

2. Authors of greater note than those which are there quoted, have 
at times fallen into this error. Archbishop 1 illotson, for instance, is 
sometimes negligent 'in his choice of metaphors; as, when speaking 
of the day of Judgment, he describes the world, as ** cracking about 
the sinners' ears." 

3. Shakespeare, whose imagination was rich and bold, in a much 
greater" degree than it was delicate, often fails here. 

Example. The following is a gross transgression ; in his Henry V., 
having mentioned a dung-hill, he presently raises a metaphor from the 
steam of it ; and on a subject too, that naturally led to much nobler 
ideas : 

And these that leave their valiant bones in France, 

Dying like men. though buried in your dunghills, 

They shall he tamed ; for there the sun shall greet them, 

Ai.d draw their honours reeking up to heaven. Jet IV. Scene 8. 

267. la the third place, as metaphors should be drawn 
from objects of some dignity, so particular care should be 
taken that the resemblance, which is the foundation of the 
metaphor, be clear and perspicuous, not far-fetched, nor 
difficult to discover. The transgression of this rule makes, 
what is called harsh or forced metaphors, which are always 
displeasing, because they puzzle the reader, and instead of 
illustrating the thought, render it perplexed and intricate. 

Jllus. With metaphors of this kind Cowley abounds. He, and some 
of the writers of his age, seemed to have considered it as the perfec- 
tion of wit, to hit upon likenesses between objects which no other per- 
son could have discovered ; r.^d, at the same time, to pursue those 
metaphors so far, that it requires some ingenuity to follow them out, 
and comprehend them. This makes a metaphor resemble an enigma ; 
and is the very reverse of Cicero's rule on this head : u Every metaphor 
should be modest, so that it may carry the appearance of having 
been led, not of having forced itself into the place of that word whose 
room it occupies ; that it may seem to have come thither of its own 
accord, and not by constraint."* 

* " Verecunda debet esse, translatio ; ut dt tlticta esse in alienum locum non irruissft 
atque ut voluntario non vi venisse videatur." De Oratore, lib. Hi. e. S3, 



jJe/aphor. 147 

2. To be ne\v, and not vulgar, is a beauty. Trite and common re- 
cmblanc.es should indeed be avoided in our metaphors. But when 

they are fetched from some likeness too remote, and lying too far out 
of (he road of ordinary thought, then, besides their obscurity, they 
have also the disadvantage of appearing laboured, and, as the French 
call it, " recherche." Metaphors, like all other ornaments, lose their 
whole grace, when they do not seem natural and easy. 

3. Tt is but a bad and ungraceful softening, which writers sometimes 
use for a harsh metaphor, when they palliate it with the expression, 
as it were. This is but an awkward parenthesis ; and metaphors, 
Which need this apology of an as it were, would, generally, have been 
better omitted. (See Art. 166.) Metaphors, too, borrowed from any 
of the sciences, especially such of them as belong to particular profes- 
sions, tire almost always faulty by their obscurity. (Art. 84. lllus.) 

268. In the fourth piace, it must be carefully attended to, 
in the conduct of metaphors, never to jumble metaphorical 
and plain language together : never to construct a period 
so, that part of it must be understood metaphorically, part 
literally: this always produces a most disagreeable- confu- 
sion. 

Examfik 1* J<ong to my joys my dearest lord is lost, 

His country's buckler. and the Grecian boast ; 

Now from my fond embrace by tempests torn, 

Our other column of the stale is borne, 

Nor took a. kind adieu, nor sought consent.* Odyssey IV. 962. 

Analysis. Here, in one line, her son is figured as a column ; and in 
the next, he returns to be a person, to whom it belongs to take adieu, 
and to ask consent. This is inconsistent. The poet should either 
have kept himself to the idea of man, in the literal sense ; of if he 
figured him by a column, he should have ascribed nothing to him but 
v-hat belonged to it. He was not at liberty to ascribe to that column 
the actions and properties of a man. Such unnatural mixtures render 
the image indistinct ; leaving it to waver, in our conception, between 
the figurative and the literal sense. 

Example 2. Pope, elsewhere, addressing himself to the king, says, 

To thee the world its present homage pays, 
The harvest early, but mature the praise." 

Analysis. This, though not so gross, is a fault, however, of the same 
kind. It is plain, that had not the rhyme misled him to the choice of 
an improper phrase, he would have said, 

The harvest early, but mature the crop : 

and so would have continued the figure which he had begun. Whereas, 
by dropping it unfinished, and by employing the literal word, praise-. 

* In the original, there is no allusion to a column, and the metaphor is regularly 
supported : 

'H -rpiv fizv nociv io$\ov az&nzoa ^n^o\iovra 
YLavTotrjs aperrjoi KtKaajitvov Iv Aavaoiot 
Kc^oi', ru kXeos ivpv <ca0' 'EAAa^a Kai ptcrov Apyoc 
?ivv 6' av jrai<5' ayazrjrov avtjpu^avro BvsXXat 
\W.£a ck ueyapuv; »o' bpn»Qc»Tos ctKvca. &. 734, 



148 Metahpor. 

when we were expecting something that related to the harvest, the 
figure is broken, and the two members of the sentence have no proper 
correspondence with each other : 

The harvest early, but mature the praise. 

Example 3. The works of Ossian abound with beautiful and correct 
metaphors : such as that on a hero : " In peace, thon art the gale of 
spring ; in war, the mountain storm." Or this, on a woman ; " She 
was covered with the light of beauty ; but her heart was the house of 
pride." 

Exception. They afford, however, one instance of the fault we are 
now censuring : " Trothal went forth with the stream of his people, 
but they met a rock : for Fingal stood unmoved ; broken they rolled 
back from his side : nor did they roll in safety ; the spear of the king 
pursued their flight." 

Analysis. At the beginning, the metaphor is very beautiful. The 
stream, the unmoved rock, the waves rolling back broken, are expres- 
sions employed in the proper and consistent language of figure ; but 
in the end, when we are told, " they did not roll in safety, because the 
spear of the king pursued their flight," the literal meaning is improper- 
ly mixed with the metaphor ; they are, at one and the same time, pre- 
sented to us as waves that roll, and men that may be pursued and 
wounded with a spear. 

269. In the fifth place, never make two different meta- 
phors meet on one object. This is what is called mixed met- 
aphor, and is indeed one of the grossest abuses of this figure ; 
such as Shakespeare's expression, " to take arms against a 
sea of troubles." This makes a most unnatural medley, 
and confounds the imagination entirely. 

Illus. Quinctilian has sufficiently guarded us against it. " We must 
be particularly attentive to end with the same kind of metaphor with 
which we have begun. Some, when they begin the figure with a tem- 
pest, conclude it with a conflagration ; which forms a shameful incon- 
sistency."* 

Example 1. The charm dissolves apace, 

And as the morning steals upon the night, 
Melting the darkness, so their rising senses 
Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle 
Their clearer reason. Tempest. 

Analysis. What an inconsistent groupe of objects is brought together 
in this passage, which professes to describe persons recovering their 
judgment after the enchantment, that ?*eld them, was dissolved ! So 
many ill sorted things are here joined, that the mind can see nothing 
clearly ; the morning stealing upon the darkness, and at the same time, 
melting it ; the senses of men chasing fumes, ignorant fumes, and 
fumes that mantle. 

Example 2. So again in Romeo and Juliet : 

— —-— as glorious, 
As is a winged messenger from heaven, 
Unto the white upturned wondering eyes 

* " Id imprimis est custodiendum, ut quo genere cceperis translationis, hoc finia*-. 
Multi autem cum inirium a tempestate sumserunt, incendio aut roha finiunt ; qase 
«t inconsequent ia reruni fuedissima." 



Metaphor. 149 

Of mortals, that fall back to gaze on hi in, 
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds, 
And sails upon the bosom ol the air. 

Analysis. Here, the angel is represented as, at one moment, bestrid- 
ing the clouds, and sailing upon the air ; and upon the bosom of the 
air too j which forms such a confused picture, that it is impossible for 
any imagination to comprehend it. 

Example 3. More correct writers than Shakespeare sometimes fall 
into this error of mixing metaphors. 

I bridle in my struggling muse with pain, 
That longs to launch into a bolder strain.* 

Analysis. The muse, figured as a horse, may be bridled ; but when 
we speak of launching, we make it a ship ; and by no force of imagin- 
ation, can it be supposed both a horse and a ship at one moment ; bri- 
dled, to hinder it from launching. Were we to try this metaphor by 
Addison's own rule, namely, to suppose the^gwre painted, it would 
appear more grotesque than any of Hogarth's subjects. That the 
muse, from her connexion with the winged horse Pegasus, might some- 
times require the bridle, is not perhaps very unnatural. But were she 
painted in an attitude in which the bridle prevented her from launch- 
ing or jumping into the sea ; or were a picture to exhibit a ship launch- 
ed, not into the sea, but upon a sheet of paper, or into a song, the 
spectator would feel something of the disposition inspired by the mon- 
ster of Horace, 

Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici. 

But the muse is a goddess. Now to bridle a goddess is no very deli- 
cate idea. But why must she be bridled ? because she longs to launch ; 
an act which was never hindered by a bridle. And whither will she 
launch ? into a nobler strain. She is in the first line a goddess, or a 
horse, in the second, a boat or a. javelin, (for both may be launched) 
and the care of the poet is to keep his horse, or his boat, or his spear, 
from singing. 

9,70. Addison's rule is a good one for examining the pro- 
priety of metaphors, when we doubt whether or not they be 
of the mixed kind : namely, that we should try to form a 
picture upon them, and consider how the parts would agree, 
and what sort of figure the whole would present, when de- 
lineated with a pencil. By this means we should become 
sensible, whether inconsistent circumstances were mixed, 
and a monstrous image thereby produced, as in all those 
faulty instances which have been given ; or whether the ob- 
ject was throughout presented in one natural and consistent 
point of view. 

271. As metaphors ought never to be mixed ; so in the 
sixth place, we should avoid crowding them together on the 
same object. Supposing each of the metaphors to be pre- 
served distinct, yet, if they be heaped on one another, they 

* Addison. 



150 Metaphor. 

produce a confusion somewhat of the same kind with the 
mixed metaphor. 

Example 1. " There is a time, when factions, by the vehemence of 
their fermentation, stun, and disable one another*." 

Analysis. The noble author represents factions, first, as discordant 
fluids, the mixture of which produces violent fermentation ; but he 
quickly relinquishes this view of them, and imputes to them operations 
and effects, consequent only on the supposition of their being solid 
bodies in motion. They maim and dismember one another by forcible 
collisions. 

Example 2. {: Those whose minds are dull and heavy do not easily 
penetrate into the folds and intricacies of an affair, and therefore can 
only scum off what they find at the topf." 

Analysis. That the writer had a right to represent his affair, what- 
ever it was, either as a bale of cloth or a fluid, nobody can deny. But 
tiie laws of common sense and perspicuity demanded of him to keep 
it either the one or the other, because it could not be both at the same 
time. It was absurd, therefore, after he had penetrated the folds Of 
it, an operation competent only on the supposition of its being some 
pliable body, to speak of scumming off what floated on the surface, 
which could not be performed unless it was a fluid. 

272. The only other rule concerning metaphors, which 
we shall add, is, that they be not too far pursued. If the 
resemblance on which the figure is founded, be long dwelt 
upon, and carried into all its minute circumstances, we 
make an allegory instead of a metaphor ; we tire the reader, 
who soon becomes weary of this play of fancj- ; and we 
render our discourse obscure. This is called straining a 
metaphor. 

Criiick 1. Cowley deals in this to excess ; and to this error is owing-, 
in a great measure, that intricacy and harshness, in his figurative lan- 
guage, which we before remarked. (Art. 207.) 

2. Lord Shaftesbury is sometimes guilty of pursuing his metaphors 
too far. Fond, to a High degree, of every decoration of style, when 
once he had hit upon' a figure that pleased him, he was extremely loth 
to part with it. 

3. Dr. Young also often trespasses in the same way. The merit, 
however, of this writer, in figurative language, is grtat, and deserves 
to be remarked. 3Se writer, ancient or modern, had a stronger ima- 
gination than Dr. Young, or one more fertile in figures of every kind. 
His metaphors are often new, and often natural and beautiful. But 
his imagination was strong and rich, rather than delicate and correct. 
Hence, in his Night 'thoughts, there prevail an obscurity, and a hard- 
ness in his style. The metaphors are frequently too bold, and fre- 
quently too far pursued ; the reader h dazzled rather than enlighten- 
ed ; and kept constantly on the stretch to keep pace with the author. 

4. Of all the English authors, none is so happy in his metaphors as 
Addison. His imagination was neither so rich nor so strong as Dr. 
Young's; but far more chaste and delicate. Perspicuity, natural 
grace, and ease, always distinguish his figures. They are neither 

* Bolingbroke. f Swift. 



Metaphor. 151 

k&r&h nor strained ; they never appear to have been studied or sought 
after ; but seem to rise of their own accord from the subject, and con- 
stantly embellish it. 

Scholia 1. Metaphors expressed by single words may, it seems, be 
introduced on every occasion, from the most careless effusions of con- 
versation, to the highest and most passionate expression of tragedy ; 
and on all these occasions they are, perhaps, the most beautiful and 
significant language that can be employed. There is no doubt of the 
justness of this observation with regard to any species of speaking or 
writing, except that which denotes violent passion, concerning which 
the practice of the most correct performers is not uniform ; some of 
them rejecting, others admitting, the use of such figures. 

2. Short metaphors appear with perfect propriety in oratory, me- 
moirs, essays, novels, but particularly in history. The historian is 
scarcely permitted to indulge in hunting after comparisons ; he is sel- 
dom allowed to introduce the more elevated and poetical .figures of 
apostrophe and personification ; he is not even at liberty to amuse 
with metaphors extended to many circumstances of resemblance, but 
to those expressed in single or few words, he has the most approved 
access. Such ornaments are the proper implements of a vigorous and 
decisive mind, which has leisure only to snatch a ray of embellishment 
from a passing object, without turning aside from its capital pursuit. 
The superior attention of the historian to the matter of which he treats, 
the dignity and gravity of his style, which ought to correspond to the 
importance of his matter, call upon him to communicate his thoughts 
in the most correct, perspicuous, and forcible language ; and such, in 
a serene state of the mind, is the language of short metaphor. 

3. Both Shakespeare and Otway conceived short metaphors to be 
perfectly consistent with the most violent agitations of passion. It is 
in vain to appeal to the authority of other tragic poets. They are 
unanimous for the use of similar metaphors in similar situations. Ma- 
ny of them, indeed, have so overloaded their pathetic scenes with this 
brilliant ornament, that it obscures the meaning, diminishes the im- 
pression, and sometimes disgusts the reader. 

4. But extended metaphors, which chiefly amuse the imagination by 
a great variety of pretty and pleasant resemblances, are much more 
circumscribed in their appearance. They are too refined to occur in 
conversation, or on any occasion that allows not time for recollection, 
and for tracing similitudes which are at least so remote and unexpect- 
ed as to surprise and captivate. They present themselves with per- 
fect grace, in pulpit-oratory, in political writings, in works of criticism, 
and in essays. But their peculiar province is descriptive poetry, and 
the dispassionate parts of epic. They are inconsistent with violent 
passion, and are seldom introduced with success into tragedy. Ttiey 
are calculated entirely to please the imagination. They interfere with 
all the strong feelings of the heart. The mind that can either utter 
or relish them may be gay and elevated, but must be composed and 
tranquil. Under the pressure of deep distress, they are disgusting an£ 
intolerable. 



U 



152 Comparison* 



CHAPTER III. 

COMPARISONS OR SIMILES, 

273. COMPARISONS or similes differ chiefly from 
metaphors in the vigour of imagination with which they 
are conceived. In the use of metaphors, we suppose the 
primary object transformed into the resembling one. In 
the use of comparisons we soar not so high, but content 
ourselves with remarking similitude merely. 

JUus. 1. In all comparisons there should be found something- new or 
surprising in order to please and illustrate. There is nothing new or 
surprising in the resemblance of the individuals of the same species, 
as when we say, one man, or one horse, or one oak, is like another ; 
because these individuals are formed by nature similar, and no com- 
parison instituted between them can be supposed to produce any nov- 
elty or surprise. To find, then, resemblances which are new or sur- 
prising, and which, consequently, may produce pleasure or illusts ation^ 
we must search for them where they are not commonly to be expect- 
ed, between things of different species. 

Example. If. for instance, I discover a resemblance between a man 
and a horse in swiftness, between a man and an oak in strength, or 
between a man and a rock in steadiness, such resemblances, being 
new, and generally unobserved, excite surprise and pleasure, and im- 
prove my conceptions of the swiftness, strength, and steadiness, of the 
man. 

Corol. Hence results the first general principle concerning good 
comparisons of resemblance ; they must be drawn from one species 
of things to another, and never instituted between things of the same 
species. 

Illus. 2. Again, when we place a great object opposite to a little 
one, a beautiful picture to an indifferent one, or one shade of the same 
colour to another ; we are surprised to find, that things which seemed 
so much alike differ so widely. We conceive the beauties and defects 
of the objects contrasted greater, perhaps, than they really are, at 
least much greater than they appear when surveyed apart. 

Corol. Hence is derived the second principle respecting compari- 
sons, that contrasts must be instituted between things of the same 
species, because no pleasure or illustration can result from finding dis- 
similitude between things naturally different. 

Illus. 3. As it is necessary there should be resemblance in all com- 
parisons, it is obvious that the objects of different senses cannot furnish 
foundation for them. There is no resemblance between a sound and 
a colour, a smell, and a surface of velvet. 

Corol. Comparisons, then, must farther take place between (he ob- 
jects of the same sense ; and, as the sight is the most lively and dis- 
tinct of all the senses, and the ideas it communicates make the deep- 
est impression on the mind, the most beautiful and striking compari- 
sons are deduced from the objects of this sense. (Sec the Ex. and 
Analysis to Art. 2 IS.) 



Comparison. 153 

tllus. 4. But though the far greater part of comparisons result from 
\he resemblance of the qualities of sensible objects alone, yet they are 
sometimes instituted between the qualities of sensible and intellectual 
objects. 

Example Thus, Shakespeare compares adversity to a toad, and 
slander to the bite of a crocodile. 

Scholium. In all these cases, however,.the abstract or intellectual ob- 
ject is personified, and the comparison is founded on the supposed re- 
semblance which the qualities ot' the intellectual object bear to those of 
the sensible object, after the former also has become a sensible object, 

Illus. 5. In addition to the kinds of similes already explained, there 
is another that frequently occurs, in which the effects only of two ob- 
jects are compared. The same analogy takes place with regard to 
them, which was formerly observed to appear in the resemblance of 
the sound of words to their sense. (Art. 225.) Ihe objects com- 
pared are not perhaps similar in their qualities, at least the merit of 
ihe figure does not depend on this circumstance, but upon the similar- 
ity of the impressions or emotions they produce in the mind. 

Examples. Upon this principle, the following comparisons are suc- 
cessfully framed. 

li " Often, like the evening sun, comes the memory of former times 
on my soul*." 

2. k{ The music was like the memory of joys that are past, pleasant 
and mournful to the soulf.'' 

3. " Sorrow, like a cloud on the sun, shades the soul of Clessa- 
mourj." 

4. " Pleasant are the words of the song, and lovely are the tales of 
other times. 1 hey are like the dew of the morning on the hill of roses,' 
when the sun is faint on its side, and the lake is settled and blue in the 
vale||." 

Analysis. There is no resemblance between the evening sun and the 
memory of past joys, between sorrow and a cloud, or between the 
words of the song, and the dew of the morning ; but every person 
must perceive, that by these objects similar impressions or emotions 
are excited in the mind. 

274. All comparisons may be reduced to the following 
heads. I. Those which improve our conceptions of the ob- 
jects they are brought to illustrate, — we call explaining com- 
parisons. II. Those which augment the pleasure of ima- 
gination by a splendid assemblage of other adjacent and 
agreeable objects, — we call embellishing comparisons. III. 
And, finally, those which elevate or depress the principal 
object, an operation often requisite in writing, but more 
particularly in speaking,— we call comparisons of advan- 
tage, or of disadvantage. 

275. All manner of subjects admit of explaining compar- 
isons. Let an author be reasoning ever so strictly s or treat-- 
ing the most abstruse point in philosophy, lie may very pro- 

* Osiian. f Ibid. J Hid. }! Ibid. 



up 

154 Comparison' 

perly introduce a comparison, merely with a view to make 
his subject better understood. 

Example. Of this nature is the following in Harris's Hermes', era- 
ployed to explain a very abstract point, the distinction between the 
powers of sense and imagination in the human mind. " As wax," 
says he, M would not be adequate to the purpose of signature, if it had 
not the power to retain as well as to receive the impression, the same 
holds of the soul with respect to sense and imagination. Sense is its- 
receptive power ; imagination its retentive. Had it sense without im- 
agination, it would not be as wax, but as water, where, though all im- 
pressions be instantly made, yet as soon as they are made they are 
instantly lost." 

Ilhts. In comparisons of this nature the understanding is concerned 
much more than the fancy : and therefore the only roles to be observ- 
ed, with respect to them, are, I. That they be clear ; If. That they 
be useful ; III. That they tend to render our conception of the princi- 
pal object more distinct ; and IV. That they do not lead our view 
aside, and bewilder it with any false light. 

%76. The most vigorous imagination can scarcely be sup^ 
posed to have conceived more striking comparisons, or bet- 
ter adapted to improve our conceptions of the principal ob- 
ject, than the following ones of Shakespeare. Describing 
the effects of concealediove, he makes this happy compari- 
m* : 

" She never told her lore, 
Bat let concealment, like a worm in the bud, 
Feed on her damask cheek. She pined in thoughts 
And with a green and yellow melancholy, 
Sha sat, like patience on a monument, 
Smiling at grief*." 

277. Embellishing comparisons,— those with which we 
are chiefly concerned at present, as figures of speech — are- 
introduced not so much with a view to inform and instruct, 
as to adorn the subject of which we treat ; and they are 
those, indeed, that most frequently occur. 

Illus. Resemblance is the foundation of this figure. We must not, 
however, take resemblance, in too strict a sense for actual similitude 
and likeness of appearance. Two objects may sometimes be very hap- 
pily compared to one another, though they resemble each other, strict- 
ly speaking, in nothing ; only because they agree in the efiects which 
they produce upon the mind ; because they raise a train of similar, or, 
what may be called, concordant ideas ; so that the remembrance of 
the one, when recalled, serves to strengthen the impression made by 
the other. (Illus. 5. Art. 273.) 

Example 1. To describe the nature of soft and melancholy music, 
Ossian says, ** The music of Carry! was, like the memory of joys that 
are past, pleasant and mournful to the soul." 

Analysis. This is happy and delicate. Yet surely, no kind of music 
has any resemblance to a feeling of the mind, such as the memory of 

* Twelfth Nigbe, Act II. Sc 4t 



Comparison, \ 55 

past jo vs. Had it been compared to the voice of the nightingale, or 
the murmur of the stream, as it would have been by some ordinary 
pdet, the likeness would have been more strict ; but, by founding his 
simile upon the effect which Carryl's music produced, Ossian, while 
he conveys a very tender image, gives us, at the same time, a much 
stronger impression of the nature and strain of that music : " Like 
the memory of joys that are past, pleasant and mournful to the soul." 
Example 2. Homer introduces a most charming night-scene, while 
his main object is only to illustrate the state of the Grecian camp after 
a battle. 

M The troops, exulting, sat in order round, 
And beaming fires illumin'd all the ground. 
As when the moon, resplendent orb of night, 
O'er heaven's pure azure shed her sacred light ; 
When not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene, 
And not a breath disturbs the deep serene ; 
Around her throne the vivid planets roll, 
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole ; 
O'er the dark trees a yellow verdure spread, 
And tipt with silver ev'ry mountain's head. 
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, 
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies. 
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the night, 
Eve the blue vault, and bless the useful light. 
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze, 
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays!" 

Analysis, This simile needs no comment to display its beauties. IVot 
only is the primary object, the Grecian tires, elucidated by the splendid 
resemblance of the glowing stars, but the imagination is farther capti- 
vated by a delightful collection of connected objects, which together 
concur to form an extensive and interesting picture. 

Scholium. Such comparisons not only supply the most striking illus- 
trations of the objects they a>'e brought to illuminate, but embellish 
also the general prospect by occasional openings into beautiful adja- 
cent fields. They operate like episodes in a long work, which relax and 
legale the mind, without distracting it from its capital pursuit. They 
produce an effect similar to what happens to the traveller, from sur- 
veying in his course unexpected and surprising scenes of nature or of 
art. He turns aside a moment to contemplate them, and then resumes 
his journey with redoubled ardour aud delight. 

278. The third sort of comparisons are employed to ele- 
vate or depress the principal object. 

Example 1. The following example must aggrandise our conceptions 
of the valour of Hector, howsoever great we can suppose it to have 
been in reality. 

" Girt in surrounding flames, he seems to fall 
Like fire from Jove, and bursts upon them all ; 
Hursts as a wave, that from the clouds impends, 
And swell'd with tempest o'er the ship descends. 
"White are the decks with foam ; the winds aloud 
Howl o'er the masts, and ring through every shroud. 
Pale, trembling, tir--d, the sailors freeze with fears, 
And instant death in every wave appears. 
So pale the Greeks the eyes of Hector meet. 
The chief so thunders, and so shakes the fleet." 

Example 2. The following quotation will explain the manner in 
l vhich comparisons operate to depress the primary object. Milton has 

14* 



io'6" Comparison. 

employed a most expressive and successful figure to vilify the courage 
and. resistance of the fallen angels : 

" Gabriel — — as a herd 

Of goats, or tim'rous flock, together thronged, 
Drove them before him, thunder-struck, pursued 
With terrors and with furies, to the bounds 
And crystal wall ef heaven."" 

Example 3. Shakespeare could not have devised a more effectual 
method of exposing the character of a fop, than by contrasting him 
with his most valourous hero, Hotspur. The passage supplies a per- 
tinent illustration of the nature of contrasts,, and of thtir powers to 
diminish or depress. Hotspur thus addresses the king about the pris- 
oners whom he had taken, and whom he had been accused of refusing 
•o surrender : 

" My liege, I did deny no prisoners, 

But I remember, when the tight was done, 

"When I was dry with rage and extreme toil, 

Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword?. 

Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd r 

Fresh as a bridegroom ; and his chin new reap'd* 

Shard like a stubble-land at harvest home. 

He was perfumed like a milliner ; 

And 'twixt his ringer and his thumb he held 

A pouncet-box, which ever and anon 

He gave his nose. And still he smifd and talk'd. 

And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, 

He call'd them untaught slaves, unmannerly, 

To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse 

Betwixt the wind and his nobility. 

With many holiday and lady terms 
; , He question'd me. Among the rest demanded 

My prisoners in your majesty's behalf: 

I, all smarting with my wounds, being gall'd 

To be so pester'd with a popinjay, 

Out of my grief and my impatience, 

Answer'd negleetingly ; I know not what ; 

He should, or he should not ; for it made me mat^ 

To see him shine so bright, and smell so sweet, 

And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman, 

Of guns, and drums, and wounds. 

And telling me, the sovereign'st thing on earth 

Was parmacety for an inward bruise ; 
; And that it was a pity, so it was, 

That this villainous salt-petre should be digg'd 

Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, 

Which many a good tall fellow had destroyed 

So cowardly ; and but for these vile guns, 

He would himself have been a soldier." 

Obs. Having explained the nature of comparisons, and illustrate*! 
ihe purposes which they are calculated to serve, to guard the student 
against errors, we shall enumerate the capital mistakes committed in 
the use of these figures ; and then conclude the chapter by some re- 
marks on the propriety of the occasions in which they may be intro- 
duced. 

279. Comparisons should not be instituted between objects, 
the resemblance of which is either obscure, faint, or remote. 

Example. The following simile was intended by Milton to illustrate 
the anxiety with which Satan traversed the creation, in order to find 
out Subjects for destruction and revenge. 
M As when a vulture on Imaus bred, 
Whose jntwy ridge the roving Tartar bounds, 



Comparison 157 

iiislodging from a region scarce of prey, 
To gorge the flesh of lambs or yearling kids, 
On hill* where flocks are fed, flies to the springs 
Of Ganges or Hydasp^s Indian streams, 
But in his way lights on the barren plains 
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive 
With sails and wind their cany waggons light; 
So on this windy sea of land, the fiend 
Walk'd up and down alone, beut on his prey.*' 

Analysis. The objects contained in this comparison are so little 
known, even to those who claim the character of being learned, and 
they are so totally unknown to the greater part of readers, that it has 
the appearance of a riddle, or a pompous parade of erudition, rather 
than of a figure to illustrate something less conspicuous and striking' 
than itself. Many of the similes, also, which were frequent and beau- 
tiful among the Greeks and Romans, as those drawn from the lion, the 
tiger, the wolf, the sphinx, the griffin, animals with the characters and 
properties of which they were supposed to be well acquainted, are re- 
tained by modern poets with much impropriety. To the learned they 
are destitute of novelty, an essential ingredient in every good compari- 
son ; to the unlearned, they are involved in much greater obscurity 
than the subjects they arc brought to illuminate. 

280. Comparisons should not be deduced from objects 
which rise much above, or fall much below the primary ob- 
ject ; nor should they suggest feelings discordant with the 
tone of the emotion which the object prompts. If a com- 
parison soar too high, it throws ridicule, instead of embel- 
lishment, on the object it is intended to adorn ; the latter 
suffering from contrast, instead of being elevated by simili- 
tude. 

Example 1. The subsequent comparison is reprehensible in this 
view. Homer paints the noise of opening the great lock of the repos- 
itories of Ulysses, by a comparison that borders on burlesque : 

" loud as a bull makes hill and valley ring, 
So voar'd the lock when it released the spring.' 1 

281. If, again, a comparison be destitute of dignity, some 
portion of its insignificance is transferred to the principal 

object. 

Example. Milton describes the surprise of the fallen angels by e 
similitude which savours of levity. 

" They hear'd. and were abashed, and up they sprung 
Upon the wing ; as when men wont to watch 
On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread, 
House and bestir themselves ere well awake." 

Analysis. Milton did not intend to ridicule the appearance of faNe» 
angels by this comparison ; if he had so intended, he would have de- 
served applause, for every reader feels how successful he would have 
been. 

Example 2. Homer paints the equality of the contest between the 
Greeks and Trojans, in a well-fought field, by the equilibrium of 3 
balance destined to weigh wool, 



1 58 Comparison. 

« As when two scales are charg'd with doubtful loads, 
From side to side the trembling balance nods, 
(While some laborious matron, just and poor, 
With nice exactness weighs her woolly store), 
Till poised aloft, the resting beam suspends 
Each equal weight ; nor this nor that descends. 
So stood the war ; till Hector's matchless might, 
With fates prevailing, turn "d the scale of flight. 
Fierce as a whirlwind up the wall he flies, 
And tires his host with loud repeated cries." 

Scholium. Similes like these not only degrade the principal object, 
but they hurt it in another point of view, they disgust the imagination 
by a reversal of that order of ideas which is the most pleasant. In 
Transitions from one object to another, the most agreeable succession 
is, to rise from the less to the greater. The mind inclines to extend its 
views, and to enlarge the sphere of its gratifications. In reversing this 
order of succession, it holds an opposite course. It is obliged to re- 
trench its views, and to circumscribe its enjoyments ; an operation 
manifestly unpleasant. 

282. But comparisons are still more censurable, when 
they prompt feelings discordant with the aim of the princi- 
pal object, or when they suggest sentiments painful or disa- 
greeable. 

Example. Addison, speaking of the later Greeks' poems, in the 
shape of eggs, wings, and altars, introduces the following similitude : 
" The poetry was to contract or dilate itself according to the mould 
in which it was cast ; in a word, the verses were to be cramped or 
extended to the dimensions of the frame prepared for them, and to 
undergo the fate of those persons whom the tyrant Procrustes used to 
lodge in ids iron bed ; if they were too short, he stretched them on the 
rack ; and if they were too long, he chopped off a part of their body, 
till they fitted the couch he had prepared for them." 

Analysis. The comparison is abundantly pertinent, but the tone of 
it is totally discordant with that of the subject which it is brought to 
illustrate. The pleasantry inspired by the foolish efforts of the minor 
poets is extinguished by the horror excited at the conduct of Pro- 
crustes. 

283. It is to be observed, in the last place, that compar- 
isons should never be founded on resemblances ivhich are 
too obvious and familiar, nor on those which are imaginary. 

Illus. 1. To compare love to afire, violent passion to a tempest, 
virtue to the sun, or distress to a flower dropping its head, are all sim- 
iles, either so obvious or so trite, as long ago to have lost all power of 
pleasing. 

Illus. 2. In comparisons founded on imaginary resemblances, the lit- 
eral sense of the comparison bears an analogy to the metaphorical 
sense of the primary object. Thus, chastity is cold metaphorically, 
and an icicle is cold naturally ; and for this whimsical reason, a chaste 
woman is compared to an icicle. The best poets have either indulged 
in such exceptionable similes, or have inadvertently adopted them. 

Examples. Thus Shakespeare, in Coriolanus : 

" The noble sister of Poplicola, 

The moon of Rome ; chaste as an icicle 
That's curled by the frost from purest snow, 
And hangs on Diana's temple." 



IZxtunple 2. Lord Bolingbroke supposes a similitude between the 
discovery of truth, from comparing the accounts of different historians , 
and the production of fire by the collision of flint and steel : M Where 
their sincerity as to fact is doubtful, we strike out truth by a confronta- 
tion of different accounts, as we strike out sparks of fire by the collis* 
ion of flint and steel." 

Analysis. To illustrate the futility of such comparisons, let us change 
the expression of the last example, and the shadow of resemblance 
will vanish : " Where historians differ in their accounts of the same 
transaction, whether prompted by insincerity, or any other reprehen- 
sible disposition, we discover the truth by comparing them, and ma- 
king thera correct one another, and we generate fire by the collision of 
flint and steel." As the act of comparing different authors can scarce- 
ly be called collision, so different authors have no analogy with flint 
and steel. The word strike, used figuratively in the first member of 
the sentence, and literally in the second member, seems to- have 
prompted the author to employ this imaginary comparison. 

234. Extended similes may be introduced with advan- 
tage on various occasions. They are consistent with ab- 
stract disquisition, and with perfect coolness and composure 
of mind. Such gentle appeals to the imagination, even in 
philosophical composition, always relieve and amuse the 
reader, and often add illustration to pleasure. 

285. There remains another species of composition, in 
which long and circumstantial comparisons frequently ap- 
pear ; it is that placid and feeble composition which cau 
scarcely be said to instruct, for it contains little research or 
argument, but which has for its capital aim, to amuse the 
imagination by a number of pretty or familiar resemblances^ 

Obs. Though similes are often the work of the boldest and most fer- 
vid fancy, yet none of the ornaments of language are perhaps more 
allied to deficiency of genius and taste, both in the writer and the 
r.eader. 

286. Long comparisons can scarcely be admitted witli. 
propriety into other productions than those we have enume- 
rated. History, in the hands of all writers of genius, has 
rejected them with disdain, though it admits short simili- 
tudes restricted to the mere province of illustration. 

Example. Hume thus characterises Shakespeare : " There may re 
main a suspicion that we over-rate the greatness of his genius, in the 
same manner as bodies appear more gigantic, by their being dispro- 
portioned or mis-shapen." 

06*. If any one chooses- to learn from experience the repugnance 
between the spirit of history and circumstantial comparisons, he may 
have recourse to Strada, author of the History of the Belgic War. 
He will there find, that the too frequent use c f this ornament diminishes 
the dignity and the credibility of the performance, and comraunica 
to a relation ef truth much of the levity and frivolity of a romance. 



16*0 Comparison. 

287. Oratory, for a similar reason, repudiates lengthened 
similes, though it admits short ones, and abounds with other 
figures ; particularly interrogation, metaphor, and personif- 
ication. 

Illus. In the more animated orations of Cicero, there is scarcely to 
be found a single comparison of any extent. Demosthenes, still more 
ardent, more rarely indulges in the use of them. The minds of these 
illustrious orators were too deeply engaged with their matter, to be at- 
tentive to beauties calculated only to please. They aimed at the in- 
struction and conviction of their hearers, not to captivate their imagin- 
ations. They would have been ashamed to appear to have spent their 
time in ransacking nature for resemblances, however pertinent and 
brilliant, if not absolutely necessary. The ardour and penetration of 
their minds would not have been, perhaps, very favourable to their 
success, had they condescended to hunt for such puerile and declama- 
tory ornaments. 

288. But of all improper occasions on which circumstan- 
tial similes can make their appearance, the most improper 
are the tender scenes of tragedy ; and yet such inconsisten- 
ces present themselves in some dramatic productions of no 
small reputation. 

Illus. Addison was endued with much sensibility in respect of sub- 
lime sentiments and the peculiarities of manners : but he seems to hare 
been incapable of conceiving any high degree of passion. His char- 
acters, accordingly, in the tragedy of Cato, display many of those 
splendid and dignified conceptions which he had imbibed in perusing 
the orators and poets of ancient Rome, but all savour of the Stoicism 
of Cato ; and when they attempt to utter the language of passion, they 
deviate into declamation, or adopt the frigid expression of tame spec- 
tators. The scene between Lucia and Fortius, in the third act, will 
afford ample proof of the justness of these remarks. 

Example 1. When Portius, from preceding behaviour and acknowl- 
edgment on the part of Lucia, had every reason to believe he was fa- 
voured with her lore, and was anticipating the satisfaction of such a 
connection, in the most unexpected change of disposition, she informs 
him that she had made a vow never to marry him. .Never was a man 
Thrown more suddenly from the pinnacle of felicity, into the abyss of 
despair. How does he express himself in such a critical situation ? 
He introduces a comparison in the language of a spectator, descrip- 
tive of the attitude in which his agitation had placed him, without ut- 
tering a single sentiment of passion : 

" Fixt in astonishment, I gaze upon thee, 
Like one just blasted by a stroke from heaven, 
Who pants for breath, and stirfeus, yet alive 
In dreadful looks.— a monument of v» oe." 

Example 2. Lucia replies in the same language of description > 

" Oh 1 stop those sounds. 
Those killing sounds ; wliy dost thou frown upon me I 
My blood runs cold, my heart forgets tc heave. 
And life itself goes out at tby displeasure." 



Comparison. 161 

Analysis. One would imagine, that the author of the Rehearsal had 
in view such unnatural composition. But we cannot help being sur- 
prised that Addison did not profit by his remarks. " Now here she 
must make a simile," says Mr. Bays. " Where's the necessity of 
that?" replies Mr. Smith. " Because she's surprised; that's a gene- 
ral rule ; you must ever make a simile wheu you are surprised ; 'tis 
the new way of writing." 

£89. But although such deliberate and highly-finished 
comparisons are inconsistent with every violent exertion of 
passion, yet short similes, adapted entirely to the purpose 
of illustration, may appear in the most passionate scenes. 

Illus. There is scarcely a tragedy in any language, in which passion 
assumes so high a tone, and is so well supported, as in the Moor of 
Venice ; and yet, in one of the most passiouate scenes of that passion- 
ate tragedy, no reader can hesitate about the propriety of introducing 
two similes, besides several bold metaphors. 

Example. Othello thus deliberates, in the deepest agitation, about 
\he murder of his wife, on account of her supposed infidelity : 

" It is the cause, my soul, 
Let me not name it to you ye chaste stars ! 
It is the cause ;— yet I'll not shed her blood. 
Nor scar that whiter skin of her's than snow, 
And smooth as monumental alabaster ; 
Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men. 
Put out the light, and then put out thy light. 
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, 
I can again thy flaming light restore. 
Should 1 repent ; but once put out thy light, 
Thou cunningest pattern of excelling nature,, 
I know not where is the Promethean heat 
That can thy light relumine. 
When I have piuck'd thy rose, 
I cannot give it vital growth again, 
It needs must wither." 

Analysis. The comparisons of the skin of Desdemona to snow in 
point of whiteness, and to alabaster in point of smoothness, are admi- 
rably adapted to improve our ideas of her beauty, and consequently 
to heighten the tide of the Moor's distress, in being obliged to put to 
death, from principles of honour, a woman he had so much reason to 
admire. The meditation on the resemblance between her life and the 
light of a taper is striking and melancholy ; and the comparison be- 
tween her death and ihe plucking of a rose is perfectly concordant 
with the same sentiments. 

Corol. Short similes, which aid the impression by rendering our 
conceptions more vivid and significant, are therefore consistent with 
ti\e highest swell of passion. 



tf& Personification, 



CHAPTER IV. 

PERSONIFICATION. 

£90. PERSONIFICATION, or Prosopopeia, is a figure 
ivhich consists in ascribing life and action to inanimate ob- 
jects. It has its origin in the influence that imagination 
and passion have upon our perceptions and opinions. 

Illus. If our perceptions and opinions were dictated and regulated 
entirely by the understanding, nothing could appear more whimsical 
and absurd than to confound so far one of the capital distinctions in 
nature, as to interchange the properties of animated and inanimated 
substances, and to ascribe sentiment and action, not only to vegeta- 
bles, but to earth, fire, water, and every other existence most remote 
from activity and sensibility. Strange, however, as this practice may 
appear to reason, such is the ascendancy of imagination and passion, 
that nothing is more frequent and meritorious with several sorts of 
writers, particularly orators and poets. 

Example 1. Antony, in Shakespeare, thus addresses the dead body 
of Caesar : 

«' O pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth 1" 

2. " The sword of Gaul," says Ossian, " trembles at his side, and 
tongs to glitter in his hand." 

3. " Ye woods and wilds ! whose melancholy gloom 
Accords with my soul's sadness, and draws forth 
The voice of sorrow from my bursting heart." Lady Randolph. 

391. Not only the inanimate parts of nature are personi- 
fied, but the qualities and members of the body ; even ab- 
stract ideas have sometimes conferred upon them the same 
important prerogative. 

Jllns. Thus, hope and /ear, love and hatred, the head, the hands, the 
feet, prosperity and adversity, are often addressed as. independent living 
agents. 

Scholium. Human nature is a very compounded constitution, of 
which the several parts strongly influence one another. AH mankind 
have remarked the singular power -which affection and passion assume 
over our actions and our opinions. When we wish to believe any re- 
lation, or to perform any action, we seldom /want reasons to persuade 
us that our opinions are well founded, and that our conduct is right. 
Affection, or interest, guide our notions and behaviour in the affairs of 
clife ; imagination and passion affect the sentiments that we entertain 
-in matters of taste. • 

292. These faculties suggest a division of personification 
into two kinds ; the first called descriptive, which is ad- 
dressed chiefly to the imagination : the second, passional e^ 
the object of which is to afford gratification to the passions. 



Personification. 163 

tlfus. 1. The conception that we entertain of the former of these 
kinds, amounts not to conviction that life and intelligence are really 
communicated to the personified ohject ; but the conception we form 
of the latter seems to amount to conviction, at least for a short time. 

2. When Thomson personifies the seasons, when Milton calls Shake- 
speare fancy's child, when the ocean is said to smile, and the torrent to 
roar, the most delicate imagination is not so far misled as to conclude 
that there is any thing real in these suppositions. They ace figures, 
conjured up entirely to gratify the imagination ; and for that reason, 
examples of this sort are denominated descriptive personifications ; be- 
cause they are concordant with the tone of vivacity suggested by de- 
scription. (Illus. Art. 35.) 

3. But, in two of the instances already quoted, where the persons 
who personify are agitated by real passion, when Antony addresses 
the dead body of Csesar ; and Lady Randolph converses with the woods 
and wilds ; the mind is affected in a much more sensible manner, and 
conceives for a moment that the deception is complete. As soon as 
passion subsides, and reflection recovers ascendancy, the delusion 
disappears, and the fiction is detected. But as this momentary grati- 
fication is highly agreeable, and even the reflection upon it is attended 
with pleasure, it is proper it should be distinguished from the former 
species of personification ; and for this reason it has been called pas- 
sionate. 

293. As descriptive personification is derived from the 
disposition of the imagination to indulge in such views of 
nature and art, as tend most to gratify itself; so life and 
motion are capital sources of pleasure, in the contemplation 
of the objects with which w# are surrounded. 

Illus. 1. We feel a superior satisfaction in surveying the life of ani- 
mals, than that of vegetables ; and we receive more gratification in 
contemplating the life of vegetables, than those parts of nature which 
are commonly deemed inanimate. We receive even higher pleasure 
in beholding those animals of the same species, which are endowed 
with greater degrees of life and motion. 

2. In a word, in all views of nature at rest, as in landscapes ; and in 
all views ox nature, in rnoiion ; the more numerous the objects are, 
either possessed of life, though not in motion, or possessd of life, and 
actually in motion, the greater, in proportion, is the power of the view 
to charm the imagination, and to captivate tbe spectator. It is this 
tendency of the imagination, to delight itself, not only with the con- 
templation of life, but of the best species of life, that of intelligence, 
which induces it to extend this property as widely as possible, because, 
by doing so, it extends the sphere of its own enjoyment. It is not 
content, accordingly, with the contemplation of all the real life and 
action which fall under its observation; it makes vigorous exertions 
to communicate these valuable qualities to many other object? to 
which Providence has denied them ; to vegetables, to ideas, and even 
to matter totaUy inert. 

294. The influence of this figure is so general and pow- 
erful as to constitute the very essence of compositions ad- 
dressed to the imagination. 

15 



164 Personification, 

Illus. Strip the Seasons of Thomson, and the Georglcs of VirgH, oi 
this sprightly ornament, and you will reduce the two most beautiful 
didactic poems the world ever saw, to dry, uninteresting, uninstructive 
details of natural history. You cannot open either of these perfor- 
mances without meeting examples} I present the first that occurred 
to me. 

Example 1. Thus the author of the Seasons : 

" Now vivid stars shine out, in brightening filej 7 
And boundless jEther glows, till the fair moon 
Shows her broad visage in the crimsoif'd East % 
Now stooping seems to kiss the passing cloud, 
Now o'er the pure cerulean rides sublime. 
Nature, great parent ! whose directing band 
Rolls round the seasons of the changing year, 
How mighty, how majestic, are thy works .' 
With what a pleasant dread they swell the souS ? 
That sees astonished, and astoiiish'd sings I 
You too, ye winds, that now begin to blow 
With boist'rous sweep, I raise my voiee to you. 
Where are your stores, you viewless beings, say * 
Where your aerial magazines reserved 
Against the day of tempest perilous ?" 

2. The elegant Virgilian muse thus sings : 

" Interea Dryadntn sylvas, saltusque sequamur 
Intactos, tua Maecenas baud mollia jussa. 
Te sine nil altum, mens inchoat ; en age segnes 
Rumpe moras ; vocat ingenti clamore Citberon 
Taygetique canes, domitrixque Epidaurus equorum, 
3S< vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit." 

Jlnalysis. Every reader will perceive how much these passages arc 
enlivened by the personifications with which they abound. Every 
thing appears to live and act, and thj? imagination is charmed with a 
succession of vivid pictures. 

Obs. Essays of all kinds admit the use of this figure, and even histo- 
ry on some occasions. It is frequently found in oratory, particularly 
that of the ancients ; and it is sometimes discovered in moral discours- 
es among the moderns. 

£95. Passionate personification results from the moment- 
ary conviction which the violence of passion is qualified to 
inspire,— that the inanimate objects which engage its atten- 
tion are endowed with sensibility and intelligence. 

Jllus. The passions assume the most decisive influence over our 
©pinions and actions, and, on some occasions, totally discompose and 
perplex the mind. < They pull down reason and conscience from then 
throne, and usurp such an absolute dominion in the human frame, that 
the waves of the sea in a storm are not more completely subject to 
the turbulence of the winds. . 

2. If the passions are capable of producing these prodigious effects, 
we will not hesitate to allow them that sway which is requisite to ac- 
count for passionate personification. But in- whatever manner we 
shall account for the phenomenon, we cannot doubt of its reality ; 
and that all passions, when excited to extremity, possess this power, is 
evident from the high relish which we entertain for such examples, 
when properly exhibited. 

Example 1. Fear prompts this figure ; Milton, speaking of the eat- 
ing of the forbidden fruit, thus sings : 



Personification. 165 



• Earth trembled from her entrails, as again 
In pangs, and nature gave a second groan : 
Sky lovver'd, and, muttering thunder, some sad drops 
Wept, at completing of the mortal sin." 

Example 2. Griffin solitude naturally assumes a similar phrased© 
gy. Thus Almeria, in the Mourning Bride : 

•'• O Earth ! behold I kneel upon thy bosom. 
Open thy bowels of compassion, take 
Into thy womb the last and most forlorn 
Of all thy race. Hear me, thou common parent, 
I have no parent else. Be thou a mother, 
And step between me and the curse of him 
Who was, who was, but is no more a father. " 

3. Attachment utters itself in a similar manner. Shakespearc»makes 
Richard II. vent his feeling's to the following purpose, after landing iu 
England from his expedition in Ireland : 

" I weep for joy 
To stand upon my kingdom once again ; 
Hear earth ; I do salnte thee with my hand, 
Though rebels wound thee with their horses' hoofs ; 
As a long parted mother with her child 
Plays fondly, with her tears, and smiles in meeting ; 
So weeping, smiling, greet I thee my earth." 

4. Hatred takes hold of the same species of expression. Satan thus 
addresses the sun, in Paradise Lost : 

" O thou ! that, with surpassing glory crown'd, 
Look'st from thy sole dominion, like the god 
Of this new world, at whose sight all the stars 
Hide their diminished heads ; to thee I call, 
But with no friendly voice, and add thy name, 

Sun \ to tell thee how I hate thy beams, 
That bring to my remembrance from what state 

1 fell. How glorious once above thy sphere !" 

5. Joy also delights in personification. Adam's exultation at his 
first interview with Eve is beautifully paiutcd by Milton. All nature 
is alive to share their happiness. 

" - - - - To the nuptial bower 

I led her, blushing like the morn," all heaven, 
And happy constellations, on that hour 
Shed their selectest influence ; the earth 
Gave signs of gratulation, and each hill ; 
Joyous the birds, fresh gales, and gentle airs 
Whisper "d it to the woods, and from their wing* 
Flung rose, flung odours from the spicy shrub 
Disporting I Till the amorous bird of "night, 
Sung spousal, and bid haste the evening star 
On his hill-top, to light the bridal lamp." 

6. The impatience of Adam to know his origin, is supposed to 
prompt the personification of all the objects he beheld, in order to 
procure information. 

"- - - Thou Sun, said I, fair light .' 
And thou enlightened Earth, so fresh and gay ! 
Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and pJains, 
And ye that live, and move, fair creatures tell. 
Tell, if you saw, how c;m:e I thus, how here ?" 

Scholium. These examples evince, that a great part of the most ex- 
pressive language of passion is personification, and that it is peculiarly 
adapted fo the more interesting- scenes of life, where the passions are 



1,66 Personification. 

woundup to the highest pitch. We should indeed naturally especi 
this consequence from the violent disorder of the mind in which it can 
he relished ; for, without ascending to that derangement which infers 
lunacy and distraction, reason can scarcely offer a greater sacrifice to 
passion, than to admit .the order of nature to he reversed, and inani- 
mate existence to be endowed with life and intelligence. 

Example 7. All the best tragedies, all the most passionate see?iesjn 
the most finished epic poems, bear ample testimony to its truth. We 
shall exhibit only another quotation from the most perfect play of the 
most complete painter of the language of passion. King Lear, in the 
height of his distress, personifies, and rails against the elements, which 
he considers as combined with his daughters to procure his destruction. 

# - I tax not you, ye elements, with unkindneas, 
I never gave you kingdoms, call'd you children ; 
You owe me no subscription ; then let fall 
Your horrible displeasure. Here I stand your brave j 
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man I 
But yet I call you servile ministers, 
That have, with two pernicious daughters, joined 
Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head 
So old and white as this " 

296. In treating of gender, (Art. 56. lllus. 3. and 4.) we 
took notice, that the English language possessed a singular 
advantage in marking personifications, by employing the 
pronouns significant of sex. In all other cases, inanimate 
objects must be denominated bj the neuter pronoun ; and, 
m other languages, no distinction of gender can take place 
in personifications, because the genders of their nouns are 
invariable. But a writer in English is left at liberty to 
adopt either the male or female sex ; and it is of some con- 
sequence to attend to this circumstance, because improprie- 
ties are not uncommon. 

Example. Milton has chosen unsuitable genders for the following 
■personifications. Of Satan, he sings, 

«.-...-- His form 

Had not lost all hex original brightness. 
Nor appeared less than archangel ruin'd." 

.faalj/sis. If the personification of the form of Satan was admissible', 
it should certainly have been masculine. A female form," conjoined 
to the person of a male, seems to anproach the ridiculous. (See .QnaL 
Ex. Art. 297.) 

297. A capital error in personification, is to deck the 
figure with fantastic and trifling circumstances. A practice 
of this sort dissolves the potent charm which enchants and 
deceives the reader, and either leaves him dissatisfied, oi* 
excites, perhaps, his risibility. 

Example. Shakespeare will furnish an example of this sort. 

«' She shall be dignified with this high honour. 
To bear m> lady's train ; lest the base earth- 
Should from her vesture chaace to steal a kiss* 



Perswiifictftioiu I ' ; 7 

And of so great a favour growing proud, 
Disdain to root the summer smelling flower, 
And make rough winter everlastingly." 

Analysis. Here the earth, which we usually call " our mother," (Ex. 
2. Art. 295.) is degraded by being termed " base," (Ex. 3. Art. 295.) 
On the supposition that the earth is a. person, it was competent to the 
poet to give her lips " to steal a kiss." But then to fancy the earth 
*' growing proud" of this " favour," and disdaining " to root the sum- 
mer smelling flower," is a ridicule of all figurative communication ~ y 
since, as flowers would embellish her bosom, she prefers, to the pomp 
of dress, the pleasure of a kiss. But we may surmise that the poet 
personifies the earth as a male, since it is rather a masculine preroga- 
tive " to steal a kiss." Now, " so great a favour," in place of cooling 
his heart, was calculated to inflame it ; therefore to imagine that the 
effect would be " to make rough winter everlastingly," marks some 
ihingmore than a defective taste id the poet. 

298. Another error, frequent in descriptive personifica- 
tions, consists in introducing them when the subject of dis- 
cussion is destitute of dignity, and the reader is not prepar- 
ed to relish them. 

Example. One can scarcely peruse the following quotations with 
composure. Thomson thus personifies and connects the bodily appe- 
tites, and their gratifications. 

" Then sated Hunger bids his brother Thirst 
Produce the mighty bowl ; 
Nor wanting is the brown October, drawn 
Mature and perfect, from his dark retreat 
Of thirty years ; and now his honest front 
Flames in the light refulgent ." 

Example 2. Shakespeare, sometimes great in errors as in beauties, 
far outdoes Thomson. Speaking of Antony and Cleopatra :., 

'••----- The city cast 

Its people out upon her ; and Antony, 
Inthron'd in the market-place, did sit alone, 
Whistling to the air, winch but for vaeaucy 
Had gone to gaze oil Cleopatra too, 
And made a gap in nature." 

£99. So also, addressing the several parts of one's body, 
as if they were animated, is not congruous to the dignity of 
passion. 

Example. For this reason, we must condemn the following passage, 
in Pope's very beautiful poem of Eloise* to Abelord : 

a Dear fatal name ! rest ever unrevealed, 
Nor pass these lips in holy silence sealed. 
Hide it, my heart, within that close disguise, 
Where, mix'd with God's, his lov'd idea lies : 
Oh ! write it not, my hand ! — his name appears 
Already written :— blot it out my tears I" 

Analysis. Here are several different objects and parts of the body 
personified ; and each of them is addressed or spoken to ; let us con- 
sider with what propriety. The first is, the name of Abelard : " Dear 

* Her country cajls her Eloise, Pope Eloisa ; I write the orthography ©f either. 
15* 



168 tiikgory. 

fatal name ! rest ever," ice. To this, no reasonable objection can is-;, 
made. For, as the name of a person often stands for the person him* 
self, and suggests the same ideas, it can bear this personification with 
sufficient dignity. Next, Elsise speaks to herself; and personifies her 
heart for this purpose : " Hide it, my heart, within that close," &.c. 
As the heart is a dignified part of the human frame, and is often put 
for the mind or affections, this also may pass without blame. But. 
when from her heart she passes to her hand, and tells her hand not to 
write his name, this is forced and unnatural ; a personified hand is 
low, and not in the style of true passion ; and the figure becomes stilt 
worse, when, in the last place, she exhorts her tears to blot out what 
her hand had written. " Oh ! write it not," &c. There is, in these 
two lines, an air of epigrammatic conceit, which native passion never 
suggests ;. and which is altogether unsuitable to the tenderness which 
breathes through the rest of that excellent poem. 

300. In prose compositions, this figure requires to be 
used with still greater moderation and delicacy. The same 
liberty is not allowed to the imagination there, as in poetry. 
The same assistances cannot be obtained for raising passion 
to its proper height by the force of numbers, and the gWto 
»f style. 



CHAPTER V. 



ALLEGORY. 

30.1. ALLEGORY is a species of writing, in which one 
{hing is expressed, and another thing is understood. The 
analogy is intended to be so obvious, that the reader cannot 
miss the application, but he is left io draw the proper con- 
clusion for his own use. 

Illus. It is for this reason employed chiefly when a writer desires to 
communicate some important intelligence or advice, but is not permit- 
ted to deliver it in plain terms. It is also used for ornament, or to 
convey instruction so as to interest the imagination, and flatter the un- 
derstanding, by giving the reader the appearance of instructing himself. 

Example 1. A finer and more correct allegory is not to be found than 
fhe following, in which a vineyard is made to represent God's people, 
the Jews. " Thou hasi brought a vine out of Egypt ; thou hast cast 
out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and 
didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were 
covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the 
goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branch- 
es unto the river. Why hasi thou then broken down her hedges, so 
that all they which pass by the way do pluck her ? The boar out of 
the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. 
Keturn, we beseech thee, God of hosts ; look down from heaven. 



Allegory. 1 $9 

;;n>; behold and visit this vine; and the vineyard which thy right hand 
hath planted, and the branch that thou madest so strong- for thyself." 1 * 
2. Prior's Henry and Emma contains another beautiful example, in 
which human life is the primary object, and a voyage also the allsgorU 
col one. Any reader of discernment will easily trace the application, 
Emma addresses Henry : 

" Did I but purpose to embark with thee 
On the smooth surface of a summer's sea. 
While gentle zephyrs play in prosp'rous gales, 
And fortune's favour fills the swelling sails, 
But Mould forsake the ship, and make the shore, 
When the winds whistle, and the tempests roar ? 
No, Henry, no." 

Scholium. From these examples it will appear, that allegory par 
takes of the nature of metaphor and comparison in respect of resem^ 
blance, though it is not altogether a resemblance of the same kind. In 
allegory no supposition is made, even for a moment, that the primary 
object is converted into the resembling one ; as is done in-the case of 
metaphor. Nor is the similitude between the primary and resembling 
object pointed out, as is performed when comparisons are employed. 
We are left to discover the application, and to make the proper infer- 
ence. We are satisfied with discerning the general purpose of the al- 
legory, without inquiring with minuteness into the interpretation of 
every particular circumstance, because circumstances are sometimes 
added, to adorn or complete the picture, without being intended to in- 
fer any application. Allegory differs from metaphor and simile in an- 
other point. Almost all the subjects of allegory are personified ; and 
these consist sometimes of things inanimate, sometimes of abstract 
ideas. Few metaphors or similes admit personification. 

302. Allegories may be divided into three kinds ; first, 
those calculated for ornament: secondly, those designed for 
instruction: and thirdly, those intended both to adorn and 
instruct. 

Example. Akenside employs a beautiful allegory, of (he ornamental 
kind, to communicate a very familiar sentiment, that industry is ne- 
cessary to acquire reputation in every line of life, though some men 
are more susceptible of culture than others. 

" . In vain, 

Without fair Culture's kind parental aid, 
Without enliv'ning suns and genial showers, 
And shelter from the blast,— in vain we hope 
The tender plant should raise its blooming head, 
Or yield the harvest promis'd in its spring. 
Nor yet will every soil with equal stores 
Repay the tiller's labour, or attend 
His will obsequious, whether to produce 
The olive or the laurel. 1 ' 

Analysis. The chief merit of this example appears to be situated en- 
tirely in the expression. 

303. The principal purpose of the second sort of allego- 
ries, is to communicate instruction. 

* Psalm box. 8—16, 



170 Allegory. 

Example. Quinctfrian informs us, (lib. 8.) that the following reply of 
the Lacedeemonians, to Philip, king of Macedon, demanding compli- 
ance with some unreasonable requisition, and threatening hostilities in 
case of reluctance, was famous over all Greece. To the requisition of 
Philip, the Lacedaemonians returned this laconic answer, that " Diony- 
sius was at Corinth." 

Analysis. Philip knew well the history of Dionysius, and they left 
him to make the application. You will understand the import of this 
answer, when you are informed, that Dionysius was king of Syracuse, 
in Sicily ; that he was banished from his country and crown, on ac- 
count of his tyranny ; and that, to procure subsistence, he had been 
obliged to submit to the humiliating employment of teaching a school 
in Corinth. 

304. Besides these specimens of allegory, the ancients 
frequently employ a moral species, in order to recommend 
the principles and practice of virtue to the imagination, as 
well as to the understanding. The moderns sometimes fol- 
low them in this. 

Mas. The address and knowledge of human nature displayed by 
this contrivance merit much commendation. The authors of ancient 
Greece, in all popular writings, both political and moral, discover 
much attachment to allegorical composition. The Socratic morals, of 
which Plato and Xenophon have left us so many specimens, abound 
with figurative allusions to the arts and occupations of life ; and the 
greater part of the arguments they contain are deduced from analogy. 
All these specimens have much merit ; but the writings which we have 
particularly in view, are, the beautiful Allegory of Prodicus, preserved 
by Xenophon, in his Memorabilia Socratis, and the pleasant picture of 
human lift exhibited in the Tabulature of Cebes. 

305. The Allegory of Prodicus proceeds upon the 
supposition that Hercules, before he undertook the career of 
life, retired to deliberate, whether he should take the route 
which conducted him to the mansions of Pleasure, or the 
path which led to the temple of Virtue. 

Illus. In this critical situation, he i3 accosted by the goddesses of 
these temples, under the allegorical names of Minerva and Venus, who 
by turns persuade him to accompany them to their respective abodes. 
The persons, the dress, the manners of the goddesses, are picturesque 
and characteristic. Pleasure addresses him first, and hastens her 
pace to anticipate her rival. She invites him to partake all those en- 
joyments, which the most luxurious imagination can figure ; and her 
rival listens with patience till she enumerates the gratifications she 
had to bestow. Virtue then accosts him in a modest, but decisive tone. 
She acquaints him, that no true fame, happiness, or gratification, is to 
be procured without great designs and good deeds ; and that merit 
alone can secure the respect and rewards both of gods and men. 
Having explained her views, it was necessary she should expatiate on 
the vanity and futility of the enjoyments promised by Pleasure ; and 
the author has admirably preserved the delicacy of the piece, and the 
modesty of Virtue, by making Pleasure interrupt the speech of her 
rival, and begin the attack. Pleasure attempts to infer, from the con- 



Allegory. i ?»l 

'fission of Virtue herself, the labour and fatigue which awaited her vo» 
taries. Virtue retorts with severity and justice. She triumphs over 
her rival, and prompts Hercules to undertake those great and merito- 
rious achievements, which have rendered him the object of the admi- 
ration of all ages. „ 

306. The Tabulature of Ceees is constructed on a 
larger scale, and leads to allusions much more particular, 
It proceeds from the supposition, that some uncommon 
painting, alluding to the rarity of the knowledge and prac- 
tice of virtue, of which few people understood the meanings 
had been suspended in the temple of Saturn. 

Illus. I. The painting consisted of three compartments; one very 
lwrge, comprehending the other two. The first compartment repre- 
sented human life, into which all men enter ; the other two compart- 
ments denoted the division of men into good and bad, the larger con- 
taining the bad, and the lesser the good. Error and ignorance appear 
at the gate of the first compartment, and of their cup all men drink 
some portion. Prejudices, predilections, and pleasures, next succeed 
in the garb of harlots, to seduce ; and by them also ail mankind 
are, more or less, misled. J.f they are followed too far, they con- 
duct their votaries into the larger compartment, and consign them to 
Extravagance, Luxury, Avarice, or Flattery, who soon commit them 
to Sorrow, Remorse, Punishment, and Despair. After wandering for 
some time in the regions of Folly, their ruin is completed, unless,, by 
accident, they encounter the great physician Repentance, who, if they 
are willing to submit to his directions, undertakes their cure, and final- 
ly conducts them to the small compartment, and the happy abodes of 
Wisdom. 

2. But though some men reach the regions of Wisdom by this route, 
it is not the most patent path ; that path, much less frequented than it 
ought to be, stretches up an eminence so steep that many travellers 
approach and survey it, but never attempt to surmount it. On this, 
Temperance and Moderation have occupied stations, and are ready to 
succour every candidate who needs their assistance. Fortitude and 
Activity soon join them, after ascending the eminence, and lead them 
to the abodes of Wisdom and Happines. Here they meet with Pros- 
perity, Tranquility, Satisfaction, and Health, in the first place ; and 
afterwards, with a great group of the most pleasant and happy com- 
panions, Integrity, Contentment,. Friendship, Knowledge, Wealth, 
Dignity, Fame. They are, in a word, rendered superior to the greater 
part of those misfortunes, which so much disturb the happiness of man- 
kind ; and experience as much of the enjoyments of gods as is com- 
petent to mortal men. 

Corol. Such views of human life are extremely captivating, particu- 
larly to young minds. They array Virtue in the most charming colours. 
They engage the imagination, and even the passions, on .her side, and 
form the most powerful bulwark against the encroachment of Iniquity 
and Folly. 

307. The third sort of allegories are calculated both for 
ornament and instruction ; and of this species may be ac- 
counted the allegorical personifications which are often in- 
troduced into epic poetry, and sometimes into tragedy, 



ir& Allegory. 

Example 1. No picture can more forcibly impress the imagination, 
no reasoning can so effectually excite the aversion of the heart, as the 
allegories of Sin and Death, in Paradise Lost, The poet paints, first 
Sin, and then Death, guarding the gates of Hell at the fall of Ada*m 
and Eve. 

" Before the gates there sat, 
On either side, a formidable shape. 
The one seemed woman to the waist, and" fair, 
But ended foul in many a scaly fold 
Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd 
"With mortal sting ; about her middle round 
A cry of hell-hounds, never ceasing, bark'd 
With wide Cerberean mouths, full loud, and rung 
A hideous peal ; yet when they list, would creep, 
If aught disturbed their noise, into her womb, 
And kennel there ; yet there still bark and howl'd, 
Within, unseen." 

" The other shape, 
If shape it might be called that shape had none, 
Or substance might be called that shadow seemed, 
For each seemed either ; black it stood as night, 
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as Hell. 
And shook a dreadful dart ; what seemed his bead 
The likeness of a kingly crown had on." 

•-hudysis. These allegorical figures are strongly marked, and the re- 
semblance of their characters to the effects produced in life is to obvi- 
ous to need any comment. The picture which Virgil exhibits of Fame, 
in the fourth ^Eneid, possesses similar merit, and is deduced from the 
same principles.* 

Example 2, The subsequent picture of Slander, resembles that of 
Fame in Virgil, and is drawn with great vigour of imagination, and 
much allegorical merit. It is found in Shakespeare's Cymbeline 

* No, "'tis Slander, 
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue 
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath 
Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie 
All corners of the world, kings, queens, and states, 
Maids, matrons; nay, the secrets of the grave." 

308. All the great poets have indulged in this species of 
figure. Homer personifies prayers, and converts them into 
amiable beings, under the feigned appellation of " Jove's 
Daughters," who are concerned for the happiness of man- 
kind ; and recommend attachment to the worship and ser- 
vice of the gods, as the best means of recovering or preserv- 
ing that happiness. 

* But Virgil's Fame is a mixed allegorical composition, whieh will stand the test of 
criticism in poetry; because, in writing, the allegory can easily be distinguished from 
the historical part. No person mistakes Virgil's Fame for a real being. Nor is the 
Tabulature of Cebes considered otherwise than a supposed picture. But in the 
History of Mary de Medicis, painted in some pictures, which (in : 17) I have seen, 
decorating the gallery of the Louvre, a perpetual jumble of real and allegorical per- 
sonages, that produce a discordance of parts, and an obscurity upon the whole, is 
before the spectator's eyes. Heal personages, Nereids and Tritons, fiction and renlity, 
ore mixed in the same group; a monstrous composition, only outdone by Louis XIV's 
enormous chariot, intended to represent that of the sun, surrounded with nen and 
women, representing the four ages of the world, the celestial signs, the seasons, the 
&ours, &c 



Megory. ITS 

Scholia 1. Allegory is not very common, either for the purposes of 
ornament or instruction. An extraordinary share both of ingenuity 
and imagination is requisite to ensure success ; and the rising genius, 
of generous heart, and promising parts, who feels an inclination for al- 
legorical writing, must guard against quaint ornaments, and the ex- 
tending of allusions to too great minuteness. Let him always study 
brevity, and remember, that resemblances which have cost him much 
time to devise, are likely to cost the reader as much time to perceive ; 
the consequences of which need no illustration. 

2. As allegories are in a great measure the work of imagination, 
they cannot be admitted into any species of writing much calculated to 
interest the passions. All the arguments against long metaphors, ap- 
ply with double force against the allegories of the second and third kinds, 
which seldom can be formed with sufficient brevity for their admission. 
But the first specits of allegories, which elevate and adorn a common 
sentiment, are of general use ; and in employing them, care should 
be taken that the phraseology be all figurative, that the attributes of 
the primary and the secondary subject be not confounded and inter- 
changed. 

Example 1. The most correct writers are sometimes faulty it this 
particular ; even Horace and Boileau are not unexceptionable. Hor- 
ace, in the following example, applies two epithets to the subject of 
the allegory, which can be applicable only to the primary subject. 

" Ferus et Cuphlo, 
Semper ardantes acuens sagittas. 
Cote cruenta. 1 ' 

Analysis. " Ardentes" is intelligible when applied to love, the prima- 
>y subject, which, in a figurative sense, is often said to burn ; but it 
has no meaning when applied to an arrow, which is never supposed to 
be hot. " Cruenta," also, may be significant figuratively of the distress 
of unsuccessful love, but nobody ever heard of a bloody whetstone. 
No admirer of Horace would defend him, by alledging the epithet was 
proper, because the stone made sharp the arrow which drew the blood. 
Horace himself would have been ashamed of such a defence. 

Example 2. Boileau has introduced a strange mixture of figurative 
and literal signification in the subsequent example : 

* Poiit moi sut cette mer, qu'ici bas nous courons 
Je songe a me pouvoir d'esquif et d'avirons 
A regler mes desivs, a prevenir 1'orage, 
tt sauver s'il se pent, ma raison du naufrage." 

Analysis. These lines exhibit human life under the notion of a vov= 
tfge at sea ; but instead of adhering to this view of the subject, the au- 
thor changes the allegorical to the literal meaning, and, with abundance 
of inconsistency, speaks of preparing a boat and oars, to regulate his 
passions, and to save his reason from shipwreck. Reason can be ship- 
wrecked figuratively only. The hypothesis, therefore, of a man's un- 
derstanding taken up at sea, and saved from drowning in a storm, is 
somewhat more than ridiculous : it is not a little absurd. rSetAnah'- 
si^. Ex-. 3. Art. 2C>tO 



174 apostrophe- 



CHAPTER VI. 

APOSTROPHE. 

30.9. APOSTROPHE is a turning off from the regular 
course of the subject to address some person or thing, 
Apostrophe, derived from the same source with personifica- 
tion, is the joint work of imagination and passion, but de- 
mands not generally so bold an exertion of those faculties 
as personification. f»#rr. 290.) 

Ilhts. 1. It is commonly satisfied with addressing living objects that 
are absent, or dead objects with which we were familiar while they 
were in life. Some of its boldest efforts exhaust ihe essence of per- 
sonification, and call up and address the iriamimate objects of nature. 

2. A well-chosen comparison, an extended metaphor, or allegory, 
will please both the imagination and the passions, when gently agitated. 
But let the passions rise to violence, and the gratifications of the ima- 
gination will yield them no satisfaction. 

3. On this account, apostrophes addressed to the imagination, are 
frequently extended to considerable length, and are not by being so the 
less agreeable : while those addressed to the passions, must all be short, 
to correspond to the desultory and distracted condition of the mind. 

310. Our arrangement, then, of examples, will naturally 
fall into two classes ; first, those more lengthened and pic- 
turesque apostrophes, in which the pleasure of the imagina- 
tion has chiefly been consulted : and, secondly, those ex- 
pressive of the violence of passion. 

311. The bold and vigorous genius of Ossian delights in 
this figure, and affords many beautiful examples of the first 
species. 

Example. His address to the Moon, is one of the most pleasant pic- 
tures of this sort, which, perhaps, any language can supply. It excites 
melancholy emotion, and charms the fancy, but it aims not to rouse 
strong passion. 

w Daughter of heaven, fair art thou ! the silence of thy face i<* 
pleasant : thou comest forth in loveliness ; the stars attend thy blue 
steps in the east. The clouds rejoice in thy presence, O Moon ! and 
brighten their dark-brown sides. Who is like thee in heaven, daugh- 
ter of the night ? The stars are ashamed in thy presence, and turn 
aside their sparkling eyes. Whither dost thou retire from thy course, 
when the darkness of thy countenance grows ? Hast thou thy hall 
like Ossian ? Dwellest thou in the shadow of gri?f? Have thy sisters 
fallen from heaven ? and are they who rejoiced with thee at night no 
more ? — Yes, they have fallen, fair light! and often dL>?t thou retire la 
mourn. — But thou thyself shalt one night fail, and leave thy blue path 
in heaven. The stars will then lift their heads ; they who in thy pres- 
ence were astonished will rejoice." 



Jpostrophe. - 17$ 

shialysis. The solution of the change of the moon, founded on the 
opinion that she retired from her course to lament the loss of her sis- 
ters, adds sympathy to the picture, and captivates the heart from the 
resemblance between her melancholy situation and that of the poet 
Jn this example, the objects are striking:, and tender, and elevated, 
and excite correspondent emotions in the mind, but they cannot be 
said to agitate it with passion. 

312. The apostrophes of the second class are the offspring 
of deep agitation: and the subsequent instances will illus- 
trate the nature of their influence and operation. 

Example. In the tragedy of Douglas, Lady Randolph thus accounts 
for the loss of her son : 

" That very r.ight in which my son was born, 
My nurse, the only confident I had, 
Set out with him to reach her sister's house ; 
But nurse nor infant have 1 ever seen. 
Xor heard of Anna since that fatal hour. 
My murder'd child ! had thy fond mother feared 
The loss of thee, she had loud fame defied, 
Despised her father's rage, her father's grief, 
And wauder'd with thee through the scorning world."' 

Analysis. The apostrophe of the mother to the child, as soon as it 
Mas mentioned — the exaggerated supposition, that the nnfortunate 
nurse had murdered it, and made her escape to save herself — the reso- 
lution of the mother to have run every risk, had she suspected any part 
of the misfortune that happened — are al] the expressions of nature, and 
of genuine passion. 

Si 3. A principal error in the use of apostrophe, is to deck 
the. object addressed with affected ornaments. It is by these 
ornaments that authors relinquish the expression of passion, 
and substitute in its stead the language of fancr. 

Example. What opinion will the reader of taste form of the follow- 
ing quaint and laboured address of Cleopatra to the serpent, with 
which she was about to poison herself. It is taken from Dryden's 
All for Love. 

" Welcome, thou kind deceiver, 
Thou best of thieves, who, with an easy key, 
Dost open life. and. unperceiyed by us. 
Kv'n steal us from our. Ives, discharging so 
Death's dreadfui office, better than himself, 
Touching our limbs so gently into slumber, 
That Death stands by. deceiv'd by his own image, 
And thinks himself but sleep." 

Analysis. Such conceits would scarcely be endured in the most cool 
descriptive poem. They cannot be supposed more impjE<jfher than 
where they are. They resemble some of the obscure and forced al- 
lusions of allegorical writers, which the reader has difficulty to under- 
stand. 

314. Another frequent error is, to extend this figure to 
too great length. The language of violent passion is always 
concise, and often abrupt. It passes suddenly from one ob- 
ject to another. It often glances at a thought^ starts from it. 

16 



176 Apostrophe. 

and leaves it unfinished. The succession of ideas is irregu- 
lar, and connected by distant and uncommon relations. 

Corol. On all these accounts, nothing is more unnatural than long 
speeches uttered by persons under the influence of strong passions. 
Yet this error occurs" in several tragic poets of no inferior reputation. 

315. Apostrophe frequently appeared in the oratory of 
antiquity. Demosthenes abounds in a figure so bold, and so 
suitable to the ardent tone of his own mind. 

Illus. He often turns abruptly from the judges and his argument, 
and addresses himself to his antagonist, or the person accused. He 
seldom, however, personifies an inanimate object. 

316. Cicero also affords many examples of every specie* 
of apostrophe. 

Illus. 1. In his Oration for Ligarius, he addresses Tubcro, the prose- 
cutor, with vehemence, and paints in strong colours the criminality of 
his conduct, the partiality and animosity of his intentions. He per- 
sonifies and addresses the sword of Tubero, and puts him in mind of 
being in arms against Ca;sar at Pharsalia, if Ligarius, whom he accu- 
sed of treason, had borne arms against Caesar in Africa.* 

2. In his speech against Catiline in the Senate, one of the most ar- 
dent and eloquent of all his orations, he bursts forth abruptly like a 
torrent, with an apostrophe to Catiline himself, who had the impudence 
to enter the senate-house, while the subject of his conspiracy was to be 
debated. 

3. Never did an oration commence in a higher tone ; and it needed 
all the genius and fire of one of the greatest orators to support a cor- 
respondent spirit in the sequel of the speech. Cicero, however, effect- 
ed it. He was deeply interested in the suppression of a conspiracy, 
which his office of consul, his honour as an orator, and the safety of 
his country, demanded of him. He was in the prime of iife, elated 
with the highest fame of civil honours and oratorical ability ; all con- 
curred to prompt this great effort of eloquence. 

317. Apostrophe has seldom made its appearance in 
modern oratory, except with some French preachers, and 
some enthusiasts of that character among ourselves. 

Illus. A French orator may address the cross of Christ, and implore 
the patronage and intercession of St. Louis with success, on account 
of the peculiarity of the national faith of his countrymen ; but such 
eloquence could expect no better reception in this islaud than ridicule 
or contempt. 

318. The British Houses of Parliament are at present the 
best theatres in the world for the display of eloquence ; but 
many causes concur to render its appearances there less 
bold than it was among the ancients. 

Illus. The abstract political or commercial nature of a great part of 

* « Quid eiiim districtus ille tuus in acie Pharsalia gladius ajyebat ? cujus latus iHe 
mucro petebat ? qui stnsus erat armoruia ? quai tua mens ? oculi ? raanus . ? ardor 
anirni ? Quid eupiebas ? quid optaba* ?" 



Hyperbole. 177 

Vhfe subjects on which it is employed ; the ambition of modern orators 
to reduce legislation and common law to lhe cool principles of equity 
and justice ; their superior attention, on that account, to facts and ar- 
guments, than to the phraseology and figures of pathetic eloquence ; 
*md finailv, the insensibility, perhaps, of British constitutions, and their 
greater indifference, on that account, to the pleasures of imagination 
and passion ; all co-operate to repress the more passionate exhibitions 
of oratory. 

319. At Athens and Rome, the existence of the state 
iometimes depended on an oration ; the most successful 
speaker was sure to gain every honour and advantage the 
public had to bestow. 

Mas. He addressed large bodies of men, who had no established 
principles to direct their judgments, little knowledge of the theory of 
government, little impartiality, little discernment, little experience. 
Even the senate of Rome in later times, hardly merited a better cha- 
racter, and the assemblies of the people deserved a much worse one. 
They were factious, fickle, ignorant, partial, interested, and violent. 
They had no guides, but their appetites and passions, and the orators, 
to manage them, were obliged to impress these guides. 

Corol. Apostrophe is, on the whole, a figure too passionate to gain 
much admittance into any species of composition, except poetry and 
©ratory. 



CHAPTER VII, 

HYPERBOLE, 

3£0. HYPERBOLE is also the offspring of the influence 
®J imagination and passion over our opinions, and its pur- 
pose is to exalt our conceptions of an object beyond its na- 
tural bounds. 

HhiS. 1. Our passions magnifiy the qualities of objects to which they 
are attached, and diminish the qualities of those they disapprove or 
dislike. We exaggerate the good qualities of our friends, and under- 
rate those of our enemies. We estimate higher a possession of our 
own, than a similar property of our neighbour. It is not insincerity 
that actuates us, and prompts us to impose on others, while we are con- 
scious of the error. t)ur attachment to every thing connected with 
o-urselves, dictates the partial judgments we form of it ; the want of 
that attachment with respect to the tilings of our neighbour, or the op- 
posite of it, aversion, with respect to the things of our enemy, make 
our spioions of them, in like manner, deviate from truth. 

2. The purpose of hyperbole, is to g tttify these predilections and an- 
tipathies, which it is impossible to eradicate From the minds of ihe most 
enlightened part of mankind, and which often extinguish, in the less 
cultivated part, every spark of justice and candour.* 

* *' Est autem in usu vule^o quoque, et inter iaermUtos, et apud rusticos vjdelicit' 
■quod rsatura est omnibus, aue:endi res vel njiuuendi cufiditas insita, ne,c qufcquam 
vera cemejitus est." ifciinctiiian. 



17b Hyperbole. 

321. This figure is peculiarly graceful and pleasant, when 
Ave do not accurately perceive the limits of the subject we 
exaggerate ; because we most easily believe a thing is very- 
great, when we do not know exactly how great it is. 

Ttlus. Hyperbole, in such a case, resembles the beautiful deception 
ef the rising- moon,, when her orb appears uncommonly large, because 
seen indistinctly through all the mists and vapours of the horizon ; or 
that other deception in the phenomena of vision, by which a small ob- 
ject, placed in a shade, passes for a great one situated at a distance. 

522. All discourse and writing admit hyperbole. Though 
the offspring of the most violent passion, it is also consistent 
with composure of mind. It sometimes affords high enjoy- 
ment to the imagination, and indulges this faculty with the 
most magnificent exhibitions of nature and art. It shines, 
however, with most conspicuous lustre in the higher kinds 
of poetry and oratory. It appears chiefly in tragedy during 
the first transports of passion ; and in all these cases, it may 
be employed to diminish, as well as to magnify. 

Example 1. The fear of an enemy augments the conceptions of the 
size and prowess of their leader. Thus the scout in Ossian, seized 
with this propensity, delineates a dreadful picture of the enemy's chief. 

u I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice ; his spear, the blasted fir ; 
his shield, the rising moon ; he sat on the shore, like a cloud of mist 
on the hill." 

Example 2. Admiration of the happkiess of successful love exagge* 
rates -conceptions of the lover. Shakespeare supposes the elevation of 
the lover's mind so great as to counteract the natural laws of gravity 
respecting his body. - * 

" A lover may bestride the Gossamer, 
That idles in the wanton summer air. 
And yet not fall— so light is vanity."' 

Example 3. Horror of treason and opposition prompts the most 
frightful notions of the traitor and oppressor. Cicero, on this feeling, 
exhibits a striking view of the enormities of Antony. " Qua> Charyb- 
eiis tarn vorax ? Charybdim dico ? Qurc si fuit, fr.it animal unuai. 
Oceanos, medics iidins, vix videtur tot res tarn dissipates, tarn distan- 
tibus in locis positas, tarn cito absorbere potuisse." 

Example. 4. The irksome feeling suggested by the sight of lean cattle 
tempts us to conclude, that the parts of their bodies have no bond of 
union but the skin. Virgil accordingly says of such animals, by way 
of diminution, 

" Vix ossibws hsrent."' 

Example 5. Envy also diminishes its object ; and upon this principle 
Shakespeare introduces Cassius vilifying the behaviour of Ca:sar in a 
fever. 

" He had a fever when he was in Spain ; 
And Nshen the fit was on him, I did mark 
How he did shake "lis true, this trod did shake ; 
Hi? coward lips did from their colour fly ; 
And that same eye whose bend did awe the 'world k 



Hyperbole. 170 



Bid lose its lustre: 1 did hear him groan, 
Aye. and that tongue of Iiis that hade the Romans 
Mark him, and write his speeches in their books, 
Alas ! it cryM — Give me some drink. Titinius, 
As a sick girl." 

Example fi. The resentment of Hamlet against the ignominious mar- 
riage of his mother, makes him lessen the lime she had remained a 

widow : 

" That it should come to this I 
But two months dead I nay. not so much, not twe. 

Within a month, 

A little month, or ere those shoes were old, 
With which she follow'd my poor lather's body, 
She married." 

Example!. Fame exaggerates the person, as well as the qualities, 
»f a hero. " The Scythians, impressed with the fame of Alexander., 
were astonished when they found him a little man. ,T Karnes. 

323. In the speeches of ancient generals to their armies, 
many beautiful instances are to be found of both kinds of 
this figure ; exaggerations, on the one hand, of the number, 
force, courage, and hopes, of their own troops ; and, on the 
other, diminutions of those of their enemies, in order to in- 
spire that confidence of success which in these times was 
one of the surest means of victory. 

Example. Longinus mentions a diminutive concerning a piece of 

? round, tho property of some poor man : and Quinctilian another oi 
arro on the same subject. The former represents the property as 
u not larger than a Lacedemonian letter," which consisted sometimes 
pf two or three words. Varro figures it to be as small as a sling-stone ; 
nay, he supposes it may even fall through the hole in the bottom of the 
sling.* Both these examples seem to belong to ridicule. 

324. The errors frequent in the use of hyperbole, arise 
either from overstraining or introducing it on unsuitable oc- 
casions. 

Example 1. Dryden, in his poem on the restoration of king Charles 
the Second, compliments that monarch at the expense of the sun him- 
self: 

" That star that at your birth sbone out so bright,. 
It stained the dullwr sun's meridian light." 

Example 2. Prior supposes the fire of a lady's eyes to outshine the 
flames of Rome, when lighted up by Nero ; and the music o! her lute, 
to surpass the fabulous miracles of Amphion, in building the city of 
Thebes. She would have rebuilt Rome faster than it could have, been 
destroyed by the fires of N^ru : 

" To burning Rome, when frantic Nero played, 
"Vitwhig thy face, no more lie had survtyed 
The raging flames, but struck with strange surprise, 
Confessed them less than those in Anna's eyes. 
But had he heard thy lute, he soon had found 

* " Fundum Varro vocat, quern possum mittere lunda vi tamen esttdrtit. qua «ffra 
fXujda patet." • '"* " 

16* 



1SQ Hyperbole. 

His rage eluded, and his crime atoned ; 

Thine, like Amphion's hand, had waked the stone, 

And from destruction called the rising town. 

Malice to music had been forc'd to yield, 

Nor could he burn so fast as thou couldst build." 

Example 3. Shakespeare, in magnifying the warlike character of 
his heroes, sometimes exaggerates beyond all bounds of probability. 
The description of the river Severn hastening to the reeds, to hide his 
head from the sight of combatants so furious as Mortimer and Glen- 
dower. can scarcely be read with gravity. 

rt In single opposition, hand to hand, 
He did confound the best part of an hour, 
In changing hardiment with great Glendower. 
three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink. 
Upon agreement, of swift Severn ''s flood ; 
Who. then affrighted with their bloody looks, 
Han fearfully among the trembling rtcds, 
And hid his crisp M head in the hallow bank, 
Blood-stained with these valiant combatants." 

Example 4. Cfuarini, who perhaps excels all poets in studied extrav- 
agance, makes a shepherd thus address his mistress : " If all the sticks 
in the world were made into pens, the heavens into paper, and the sea 
into ink, they would not furnish materials sufficient to describe the 
least part of your perfections." 

Example 5. Again, the same poittsays, " If I had as many tongues, 
and as many words, as there are stars in the heavens, and grains of 
iand on the shore, my tongues would be tired, and my words would 
be exhausted, before I could do justice to your immense merit.*" 

Example 6. An English poet converted the circumstances of the 
former of these extravagant compliments into a satire no less exapco'.- 
ated : 

fi Could we with ink the ocean fill, 
Were earth of parchment made; 
Were every single stick a quill, 
Each man a scribe by tvut'e ; 
To write the tricks of half the sex, 

Would drink that ocean dry. 
Gallants, beware, look sharp, take care ; 
The blind eat many a fly." 

325. Hyperboles should never be introduced till the mind 
of the reader is prepared to relish them. The introduction 
of such' .bold- figures abruptly, puts the reader on his guard, 
and excites his reflection, which commonly dissipates the 
delusion, and defeats the purpose of the writer. 

Example. No passion ever spoke the Language which grief is made 
to assume in the following unnatural exaggeration. The figure and 
the tone of sentiment are totally discordant. King Richard II. deeply 
distressed on account of the calamities of the nation, thus addresses his 
cousin Aumerle, who was under much affliction from the same cause : 

" Why weepest thou, my tender-hearted cousin ? 
We'll make foul weather with despised tears ; 



" Si tante lingue hnvesse, et tante voce, 
Quant' ochil il cielo, e quante arene il mare. 
Pesderian tutte il suono. e la fayella, 
Kel dir a pien re vortre loth immense." Patter Fide, Jet V. Stem 



Climax, or Amplification. 181 

Our sighs, and they shalj lodge the corn, 
And make a dearth iu this revolting land." 

326. Hyperboles are improper, when they may be turn- 
ed against the argument of t lie author who uses them. '" 

Jilus. Isocrates, it is said, had employed many years in composing a 
panegyric on the Athenians, to assert their pretensions to precedency 
in the management of the affairs of Greece. It was delivered at the 
Olympic games, attended by citizens from all the states of that country ; 
and in the beginning of it ho introduced tiie subsequent exaggerated 
compliment to eloquence. 

Example. " Eloquence can reverse in appearance the nature of 
things. It can impart to illustrious deeds the air of lowliness and in- 
significance, and exhibit inconsiderable, and even trifling actions, with 
the dignity of magnilicence and heroism. It can bestow on antiquity 
the garb of novelty, and attire novelty with the respect and veneration 
due to antiquity/' 

Analysis. Longinus pertinently remarks, the author did not observe, 
that by this unseasonable encomium he was dispersing anions his hear- 
ers an antidote against the operation of all the arguments he had to 
advance in behalf of his countrymen, the Athenians. Would the other 
Greek states be persuaded to do what they disliked, by an orator who 
had told them that his eloquence could reverse in appearance the na- 
ture of things? Might they not. in doing what he advised, perform 
the very opposite of what was right ? 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CLIMAX, OR AMPLIFICATION. 

5r27. CLIMAX, oh amplifcatiox, is nearly related to 
hyperbole, and differs from it chiefly in degree. The pur- 
pose of hyperbole is to exalt our conceptions beyond the 
truth ; of climax, to elevate our ideas of the truth itself, by 
a series of circumstances, ascending one above another in 
respect of importance, and all pointing toward the same ob- 
ject. 

Illiis. This figure, when properly introduced and displayed, affords 
a very sensible pleasure. It accords with our disposition to enlarge 
our conceptions of any object we contemplate ; it affords a gratifica- 
tion similar to what we receive on ascending an eminence situated in 
the centre of a rich and varied landscape, where every step we pro- 
ceed presents a grander and more extensive prospect. 

Example. Shakespeare exhibits specimens of almost every poetical 
beauty, and is not deficient in instances of climax. 

** The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
The solemn temples, the great globe itself. 
Yea, all that it inhabits, shall dissolve, 
And. like the baseless fabric of a vision, 
Leave not a wreck behind.*' 



182 Climax, or Amplification. 

328. The effect of this figure is peculiarly pleasant, when 
the gradation of the sentiment is denoted by members, 
which rise with an analogous swell in point of sound ; and 
in this view the following examples from Cicero have much 
merit. 

Example. Speaking- of the power of language, in the first book De 
Gratore : 

u Quae vis aliapotuit, aut dispersos homines unum in locum congre- 
gate ; aut a fera agrestique vita ad hunc humanum, cultura, civilem- 
que deducere } aut jam constiiutis civitatibus, leges, judicia, jura de- 
scribere" 

329. Examples are sometimes found of an anti-climax, 
that is, of a gradation downward in the sentiment ; and if 
the expression also present a correspondent descent in the 
sound, the sentence will possess uncommon merit. 

Example. Horace affords a pertinent and curious instance in the 
following line : 

" Parturiunt monies, nascetur ridiculus mus." 

jShalysit. The sinking in the sentiment, from the labour of the moun- 
tain to the birth of the mouse, is admirably imitated by a similar ex- 
pression of the word*. The verb, the most dignified word both in mean- 
ing and sound, is placed first, contrary to the common arrangement. 
The merit of the words, in point of sound, decreases to the last, which is* 
the most diminutive in the sentence, partly on account of its being a 
monosyllable, and almost a repetition of the last syllable of the prece- 
ding word, but chiefly on account of the contrast between the insignifi- 
cance of the word, and the dignity of the situation it occupies. 

330. Climax appears with grace in the calmer parts o£ 
oratory, in essays, and in all compositions which address 
the imagination, but attempt not much to interest the pas- 
sions. 

lllus. It is employed by the orator with advantage, in impressing the 
hearers with strong conceptions of a cause ; in procuring favour to the 
argument he espouses ; or in exciting disapprobation of that of his 
antagonist. It is also convenient in communicating sentiments that 
are striking or sublime, but it is too artificial to express any high de- 
gree of passion. 1 he time and reflection necessary to arrange the sen- 
timents according to their importance; the minute attention requisite 
to form the expression corresponding to the elevation of the thought, 
are all operations of a composed frame of mind, very different from 
that tumultuary state winch is the attendant of violent passion. 

331. It is, however, consistent with moderate agitation ; 
a?id accordingly Longinus takes notice of the utility of it in 
managing a low degree of passion with address. In this 
tase, however, the artificial arrangement of the words is re- 
linquished. The swelling passion seizes the expressions 
most proper to denote ^t,. and the phraseology is altogether 
artless. The best tragedies afford examples. 



Antithesis. 183 

Example 1. Oronooko thus utters his recollection of past happiness : 

" Can you raise the dead ? 
Pursue and overtake the wings of time? • 
And bring about again the hours, the days, 
Tile years that made me happy ?" 

2. Almeria, in the Mourning- Bride, expresses a similar sentiment in 
a similar manner : 

li How hast thou cliarm'd 
The vildness of the waves and rocks to this ? 
That thus relenting, they have given thee back 
To earth, to JigLt and liife, to love and me." 

•'>. Another example in the same tragedy exhibits a beautiful picture 
of the gradual influence of passion, in prompting the mind to believe 
what it wishes to be true. 

" Let me not stir nor breathe, lest I dissolve 
That tender lovely form of painted air. 
So like Almeria. Ha 1 it sinks, it fails. 
I'll catch it ere it goes, and grasp her shade : 
'Tis life, 'tis warm, 'tis she, 'tis she herself." 

Analysis. The apparition is first painted air, and has some resem- 
blance to Almeria. It descends, and appears to be seizeable. It gels 
life, animal life, it is " she herself." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE ANTITHESIS. 



33:2. AS the design of a climax is to improve our concep- 
tions of an object, by placing it at the head of a rising series ; 
so the business of antithesis is to produce a similar effect, 
by placing one object in opposition to another of the same 
kind. 

Illus. 1. Comparison is one of the capital operations which the un- 
derstanding performs upon its ideas, and is a prelude to the arrange- 
ment of them in different classes, or the deducting from them impor- 
tant conclusions. When we communicate our thoughts, or hear, or 
read (he thoughts of others, we receive pleasure, if similar ideas are- 
exhibited in similar expression, and dissimilar ideas in contrasted ex- 
pression ; and in all cases of the latter kind, antithesis is the most na- 
tural and proper phraseology. Antithesis possesses all the advantages 
of climax or amplification, with which different things of the same kind 
impress the mind when placed in juxta-positiori ; and it adds to these 
the pleasures derivable from unexpected difference and surprise. Pe- 
riods constructed to denote by their arrangement these oppositions of 
the thought, are generally the most agreeable, as well as the most per- 
spicuous. They possess the original light derived from the natural 
melody and propriety of the words ; and they arc further illuminated 
by the additional rays reflected from their contrasted members, Cirf. 
212. Ex, and Anal.) 



184 Antithesis. 

2. The same rule must be observed in the use of antithesis which 
was found necessary in good comparisons resulting from contrast. 
They must take place between things of the same species. Substan- 
tive*, attributes, qualities, faculties of the same kind, muse be set in oppo- 
sition. To constitute an antithesis between a mar, and a lion, Tirtne 
and hunger, a figure and a colour, would be to form a contrast where 
there was no opposition. But to contrast one man with another, virtues 
with virtues, figures with figures, is pertinent and proper, because in 
these cases there may be striking opposition. 

Example 1. Lord Bolingbroke furnishes the following beautiful ex- 
ample : " If Cato may be censured, severely indeed, but justly, for 
abandoning the cause of liberty, which he-would not, however, survive; 
what shall be say of those, who embrace it faintly, pursue it irresolute- 
ly, grow tired of it when they have much to hope, and give it up when 
they have nothing to fear ?" 

Analysis. The capital antithesis of this sentence is instituted between 
the seal of Cato for liberty, and the indifference of some others of her 
patrous. Cato abandoned liberty, but he would not live without her ; 
and even with all this merit he deserved censure. How different the 
conduct of other politicians, who pretend attachment to her, though 
they are never resolute to support her ; who, instead of riskiug incon- 
venience or detriment, relax their efforts when they may hope for suc- 
cess, and relinquish them when they have no danger to apprehend. 
But, besides the leading antithesis, there are two subordinate ones in 
the latter member : " Grow tired of it when they have much to hope, 
and give it up when they have nothing to fear." Ihe chief fault of 
this example is the neglect of opposition in the construction of the 
members which denote the contrast. 

Example 2. This species of merit is discernable in other quotations 
from the same author. " He can bribe, but he cannot seduce ; he can 
buy, but he cannot gain ; he can lie, but he cannot deceive." 

Example^. Speaking of the materials of his Letters on Patriotism : 
" The anecdotes here related were true, and the reflections made on 
them were just, many years ago. The former would not have been 
related, if he who related them had not known them to be true ; nor 
the latter have been made, if he who made them had not known them 
to be just ; and if they were true aiad just then, tney must be true and 
just now, and always." 

533. Antithesis makes the most brilliant appearance in 
the delineation of characters, particularly in history. 

Illus. The historian, in the performance of this delicate part of his 
tas'v, has a good opportunity of displaying his discernment and knowl- 
edge of human nature, and of distinguishing those nice shades by 
which virtues and vices run into one another. It is by such colours 
only that a character can be strongly painted, and antithesis is neces- 
sary to denote these distinctions. 

Example. Pope's character of Atticus, supposed to be Addison, dic- 
tated by the keenest resentment against the improper part which the 
Essayist was then represented to have acted relative to the translation 
of Homer, is an example that cannot fail to attract attention. 

*> Should such a man. too fond to rule alone, 
Bear, iike a Turk, no brother near his throne ; 
View him with scornful, >et with jealous tyes, 
^njd hate for arts that egus'd himself to rjse : 



Antithesis. 185 

Wattm with faint praise, jj assent with civil leer, 
And without sneering; teach the rest to sneer, 
Willing to wound, |j and— yet afraid to strike, 
Just hint a fault. || a r.d— hesitate dislike ; 
Alike resolved to blame, or to commend, 
A timorous foe, j| and— a suspicious friend; 
Dreading e'en fools. || by flatterers besieged, 
And so obliging, (1 that he ne'er obliged. 
Who would not smile, if such a man there be ? 
Who would not weep, if Atticus were he? 1 '* 

334. The beauty of genuine antithesis is so considerable, 
that we cannot wonder that many unsuccessful attempts 
have been made to acquire it. Lord Bolingbroke, though 
frequently happy in the use of it, is sometimes unfortunate. 

Example 1. His Treatise on Patriotism contains the subsequent ex- 
ample : 

" Eloquence that leads mankind by the ears, gives a nobler superi- 
ority than power, which every dunce may use ; or than fraud, which 
every knave may employ, to lead men by the nose." 

Analysis. The antithesis is instituted between leading men by the 
ears, which is the business of eloquence, and leading them by the nose p 
which is said to be the office of power or fraud. That eloquence should 
lead hy the ears, is natural and intelligible, but where is the connec- 
tion between fraud or power and the nose ? To make out the figure, 
the author is obliged to have recourse to a vulgar and metaphorical 
sense of the words " leading by the nose," in which they denote lead- 
ing in an ignominious manner, without conviction. Deny this re- 
source, and the antithesis vanishes, or consists merely in words. 

Example 2. Shakespeare, in the Merchant of Venice, furnishes an- 
other instance merely verbal : " A light wife doth make a heavy hus- 
band." 

Analysis. There is in the thought not only no opposition, but on 
the contrary, a very close connection, that of cause and effect ; be- 
cause it is the foily of the wife which produces the dejection of the 
husband. Put words significant of these ideas instead of light and 
heavy, and the shadow of a figure vanishes — " A foolish wife afflicts a 
good husband." 

335. A climax and antithesis are sometimes conjoined 
and carried on through several sentences. 

Example. Thus Pope, in the Essay on Man : 

" Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes, 

MEN M-oukl be ANGELS, j] ANGELS would be gods ; 
Aspiring to be GODS, |i if ANGELS fell, 
Aspiring to be ANGELS, || MEN rebel." 

Scholium. No figure has, perhaps, been so anxiously sought, and 
with so little success, as antithesis. It is much suited to impose on an 
unskilful reader. An author is very apt to employ it, who abounds not 
with solid and important matter. Many readers consider the surprize 
and brilliancy it presents as certa : n marks of genius ; and they are in- 
clined to believe that they have been amused and instructed, because 
they have been made to wonder. It is not easy in an enlightened age 
to shine in writing, by solidity and novelty of matter, and by simplici- 

* Prologue to tke Satire. 



186 Interrogation, 

ty and elegance of manner. Much readings much reflection, much 
practice, and much irksome criticism, must be employed before this 
important end can be attained. Authors who possess, perhaps, some 
genius, seem to wish to take a shorter path to fame ; and to compen- 
sate for the slightness of their matter, they endeavour to dazzle by the 
smartness of their style ; and if we may judge from the history of an- 
cient literature, an attachment to ornaments of this sort, forms the first 
stage toward the corruption of taste. 



CHAPTER X. 



INTERROGATION, REPETITION, EXCLAMATION, IRONY, ANI> 
VISION. 

336. INTERROGATION. The unfigured and literal 
use of interrogation is to ask a question ; but when men are 
strongly moved, whatever they would affirm or deny, with 
great earnestness, they naturally put in the form of a ques- 
tion. The strongest confidence is thereby expressed of 
their own sentiment, by appealing to their hearers for the 
impossibility of the contrary. 

Example. Thus Balaam expressed himself to Balak. " The Lord 
is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should 
repent. Hath he said it ? and shall he not do it ? Hath he spoken it ? 
and shall he not make it good ?" 

337. Interrogation gives life and spirit to discourse. 

Example. We have an illustration of this position in the animated, 
introductory speech of Cicero against Catiline. " How long will you, 
Catiline, abuse our patience ? Do you not perceive that your designs 
are discovered ?" 

Analysis. He might have said, " You abuse our patience a long 
while. You must be sensible that your designs are discovered." But 
it is easy to perceive how much this latter mode of expression falls 
short of the force and vehemence of the former. 

338. Interrogation may be used to rouse and awaken the 
hearers. 

Example. Demosthenes, addressing himself to the Athenians, asks 
them : " Tell me, will you still go about, and ask one another ichaf 
neivs f What can be more astonishing news than this, that the man of 
Macedon makes war upon the Athenians, and disposes of the affairs of 
Greece ? Is Philip dead ? No ; but he is sick. What signifies it to 
you whether he be dead or alive ? For, if any thing happens to this 
Philip, you will immediately raise up another." 

Analysis. All this delivered without interrogation, had been faint and 
ineffectual ; but the warmth and eagerness which this questioning me- 
thod expresses, were calculated to awaken the Athenians to a sense of 
their supineness, and strike them with much greater force on the folly 



Repetition. Exclamation. 187 

©f disunion immediately raising up another Philip. Again, their sim- 
plicity about the news of Philip's health is excellently exposed in the 
question, " Is he dead ?" A.nd the hope of safely expressed by the per* 
son to whom such a question was put by his neighbour, is most hu- 
morously satirized in the answer : " No ; but he is sick." 

339. Interrogation sometimes commands with great em- 
phasis. 

Example. Thus Dido, enjoining the departure of JEneas to be stopped ; 

" Non arma expedient, totaque ex urbe sequentur ? 
Deripientque rates alii, navalibus ?" 

340. Interrogation sometimes denotes plaintive passion. 
Example. Thus Almeria, in the Mourning Bride; 

" Alphonso ! O Alphonso ! 
Thou too art quiet, long last thou been at rest I 
Both, father and son. are now no more. 
Then why am I? O when shall I have rest ? 
Why do I live to say you are no more ? 
Is it of moment to the peace of heaven, 
That 1 should be afflicted thus ?' 

341. Repetition seizes some emphatical word or phrase* 
and, to mark its importance, makes it recur frequently iti 
the same sentence. It is significant of contrast and energy. 

Example 1. It also marks passion, which wishes to dwell on the ob- 
ject by which it is excited. Virgil pathetically describes the grief of 
Orpheus for the loss of Eurydice, in the fourth Georgic : 

" Te dulcis con jux, te. solo in littore secum, 
Te. veniente die, te, decedente canebat." 

So also Catullus, de Pasxere mortuo Lesbice. : 

" Passer mortuus est meas Puellae, 
Passer deliciae meae puellae. 
Quern plus ilia oculis suis amabat." 

2. Pope, to heighten compassion for the fate of an unfortunate lady, 
reiterates the circumstance of her being deprived in her distress of the 
sympathy of her friends -. 

" By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed, 
By oreign hands thy decent Jimbs composed ; 
By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned, 
By strangers lwnoured and by strangers mourned.' 5 

8. Dryden, iu Alexander's Feast, supplies one of.the mo=t beautiful 
examples of this figure. He thus paints the sad reverse of fortune suf- 
fered by Daiius ; 

" Deserted, at his greatest need, 
By those his former bounty fed, 
He surg Darius, great and good, 

B\ too severe a fate. 
Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, 
Fallen from his high estate, and weltering in his blood." 

342. Exclamations are the effect of strong emotions of 
the mind ; such as surprise, admiration, joy, grief, a»d the 
like, 

17 



188 Vision* 

Illus. 1. Exclamation, like interrogation, is often prompted by sym- 
pathy. Sympathy is a very powerful and extensive principle in our 
nature, disposing us'to enter into every feeling and passion, which we 
behold expressed by others. Hence a single person coming into com- 
pany with strong marks, either of melancholy or joy, upon his counte- 
nance, will diffuse that passion in a moment through the whole circle. 
Hence, in a great crowd, in an assembly of people on some public and 
pressing emergency, passions are so easily caught,, and so rapidly 
spread, by that powerful contagion which the animated looks, and 
cries, and gestures of a multitude never fail to impart. 

2. I shall take the liberty to give one instance, which is known to all, 
and well calculated to illustrate the figure now under consideration. 
Turn with me, reader, turn thy mind back to the morning on which we 
heard it announced that her royal highness princess Charlotte of Saxe 
Cobourg was no more ! Have you heard the news ? said every Brit- 
on to his friend. News ? what news ? The princess Charlotte's dead 1 
Dead ! the princess Charlotte dead ! did ye say ? Yes ! and her in- 
fant son too. Good God ! both mother and son ! Such was the lan- 
guage of our heart — such the species of interrogation, repetition, excla- 
mation, which we used that doleful morn, 

Scholium. Though interrogations may be introduced into close and 
earnest reasonings, exclamations only belong to strong emotions of 
mind. When judiciously employed, they agitate the hearer or the 
reader with similar passions ; but it is extremely improper, and some- 
times ridiculous, to use them on trivial occasions, and on mean and 
low subjects. The unexperienced writer often attempts to elevate his 
language, by the copious display of this figure ; but it is seldom that 
he succeeds. He frequently renders his composition frigid to excess, 
or absolutely ludicrous, by calling on us to enter into his transports, 
when nothing is said or done to demand emotion. 

343. Vision, another figure of speech, proper only in an- 
imated and warm compositions, is produced when, instead 
of relating something that is past, we use the present tense 
of the verb, and describe an action or event as actually 
passing before our eyes. 

Example. Thus Cicero, in his fourth oration against Catiline, pic- 
tures to his mind the execution of the conspiracy : " 1 seem to myself 
to behold this city, the ornament of the earth, and the capital of all 
nations, suddenly involved in one conflagration. V see before me the 
slaughtered heaps of citizens, lying unburied in the midst of their ruin- 
ed country. The furious countenance of Cethegus l'ises to my view, 
while with a savage joy, he is triumphing in your miseries.'* 

Scholium. This manner of description supposes a sort of enthusiasm, 
which carries the person who describes, in some measure, out of him- 
self ; and when well executed, must needs, by the force of sympathy, 
impress the reader or hearer very strongly. But in order to be suc- 
cessful, it requires an uncommonly warm imagination, and such a hap- 
py selection of circumstances, which shall make us think that we set 
before our eyes the scene that is described. 

* « Videor enim mihi banc urbem videre, lucent orbis terraruin atque arcem omni- 
um gentium, subito uno incendio concidentera ; cerno animo sepulta in patria misero? 
atque insepultos aspectus Cetbegi, et furor, in vestra ccede bacchantis." 



Irony* 189 

$44. In tragedy, vision is the language of the most vio- 
lent, passion, which conjures up spectres, and approaches to 

insanity. 

Example 1. The author of Phaedra and Hyppolitus makes the for- 
mer address the latter in the following strain : 

« Then why this strain ? Come, let us plunge together 
See, Hell sets wide its adamantine gates J 
See, through the sabl.e gates, the black Cocytus, 
In smoky whirls rolls its fiery waves I 
How huge Megara stalks ! 
Now, now, she drags me to the bar of Minos." 

2. The horrors of the mind of Macbeth, after murdering' the king 
and Banquo, are artfully and forcibly painted by the same figure : 

" Methought I heard a voice 

Cry, sleep no more ! Macbeth, doth murder sleep." 

3. He is still more violently distracted, and fancies he sees the ghost. 
*f the murdered king : 

" A vaunt, and quit my sight ! 
Let the eavu? hide thee ; thy bones are marrowless, 
Thy Wood is cold ; thou hast no speculation 
In those eyes which thou dost stare with. 
Hence, horrible shadow ; unreal mockery, hence." 

345. Irony. When we express ourselves in a manner 
contrary to our thoughts, not with a view to deceive, but to 
add force to our observations, we are then said to speak 
ironically. 

Illus. Irony turns things into ridicule, in a peculiar manner ; it con- 
sists in laughing- at a man, under the disguise of appearing- to praise or 
speak well of hira. 

Example. ll By these methods, in a few weeks, there starts up many 
a writer, capable of managing the profoundest and most universal sub- 
jects. For what, though his head be empty, provided his common- 
place book be full ? And if you will bate him but the circumstances 
of method, and style, and grammar, and invention ; allow him but the 
common privileges of transcribing from others, and digressing from 
himself, as often as he shall see occasion, he will desire no more in- 
gredients towards Jilting up a treatise, that shall make a very comely 
figure on a bookseller's shelf, there to be preserved neat and clean, for 
a long eternity, adorned with the heraldry of its title, fairly described 
on the label ; never thumbed or greased by students, nor bound to 
everlasting chains of darkness in a library ; but when the fulness of 
time is come, shall happily undergo the trial of purgatory, in order to 
ascend the sky."* 

346. The subjects of irony, are vices and follies of all 
kinds ; and this mode of exposing them is often more ef- 
fectual than serious reasoning. 

Illus. The gravest persons have not disdained to use this figure on 
proper occasions. 

Example 1. Thus Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to prove the 

* Tale of a Tub, Sect. 7. 



190 Irony. 

truth of their deity, " Cry aloud, for he is a god :- either he is taf^ 
ing, or he is pursuing', or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleeps 
eth, and must he awakened." 

2. To reprove a person for his negligence one might say, '' You have 
iaken great care indeed." 

347. .Exclamations and irony are sometimes united. 

Example. Thus both are united in Cicero's oration for Balbus, where 
the orator derides his accuser, by saying, " O excellent interpreter of 
(he law \ master of antiquity ! correcter and araender of our constitu- 
tion !" 

Scholium. Besides these, there are several other figures, partly 
grammatical and partly rhetorical ; but as an account of them would 
be attended with little instruction, and less amusement, we shall refer 
those who may be led farther into this held, to the writings of the an- 
cient critics, where they will find them explained. It only remains to 
point out the general principles which should guide our practice in the 
use of figures ; and this is a matter of greater importance, as errors in 
this article are very common, and as young writers particularly are 
apt to entertain improper notions of such ornaments. 

348. Remember that the first law of good writing, is to 
attend principally and closely to the matter ; and that even 
the highest ornament is of much inferior consideration. 

Illus. Good sense, dressed in plain language, will always gain ap- 
probation ; though ornament may add to its impression, it can never 
supply its place. A figurative style, without important matter, may 
dazzle and captivate the untutored mind, and procure a temporary 
reputation ; but reason and truth will, in time, triumph over prejudice 
and show, and consign to oblivion such ill-supported claims to fame. 
" Sunt qui upg^ertn. rernrn pondere," says Quiiictilian, " et viribus scn- 
tentiarum, si vel inania verba in figuras depravarint, summos se judi- 
cent artifices ; rdeoque non desinunt eas nectere ; quas sine sententia 
sectari, tarn est ridiculum, quam quserere habitum gestumque sine cor- 
pore.'' 

349. Figures should never have the appearance of being 
anxiously sought, or of being forced into the service of a 
writer. 

Illus. Affectation is the bane of beauty on all occasions, but particu- 
larly in composition. If attention to ornament cannot be concealed, it 
had better be relinquished. The appearance of art will injure reputa- 
tion more with every reader of taste, than that reputation could be 
promoted by rh.~ most successful use of figures. 

350. As figures should not be anxiously sought, so neither 
should they be lavishly employed. Ornaments of all sorts 
interfere with elegance, unless applied with taste. In liter- 
ary compositions they may serve to display a richness of 
mind, they may impart a gaudy semblance, and may evi- 
dence a bold imagination, but they will never strike with 
the charms of genuine beauty. If, on the other hand, dis- 
cernment be discovered in the use of them, if they are intra- 



Irony, 



191 






duced with moderation, and communicate real and perma- 
nent delight, they will be sure to gain approbation. 

Illus. The ornaments of writing particularly, are of a nature so re- 
fined, that the richest imagination cannot always supply them ; nor 
can the reader continue long to relish them. They are like delicacies 
of the palate, they sooner pall upon the taste than ordinary food. 
Figures too closely interspersed, interfere with their own impression ; 
they exhaust the sensibility of the imagination by too frequent exer» 
tion ; and they excite disgust by attempting too much to p'ease. 

351. An author should not attempt figures without being 
prompted by his imagination. He will readily discover, 
whether he has received from nature any considerable por- 
tion of this lively faculty, by the relish he entertains for 
works of genius, toward the composition of which she has 
liberally contributed. 

Illus. 1. If oratory and poetry attract his attention, and communi- 
cate pleasure ; if he feel inferior gratification in perusing productions 
of science, or in abstract inquiry, he has reason to conclude he is en- 
dued with some share of the mental power that has adorned the pro- 
ductions to which he is attached. If he feel this faculty so prevalent 
as to tinge insensibly the colour of his early compositions, he may- 
hope, by proper culture, to attain eminence in the use of ornament. 

2. But without such favourable presages, ornament ought not to be 
attempted. It is not admissible into many reputable species of com- 
position. It is rejected in the greater part of scientific disquisitions, 
It is despised by some writers and readers ; and in every kind of com- 
position, except poetry, good sense, and important matter, conveyed 
in a simple and natural style, will be entitled to high praise. They 
will obtain higher praise than can be procured by attempting orna- 
ment without success. 

Finally. Without a genius for figurative language, none should at- 
tempt it. Imagination is a power not to be acquired ; it must be de- 
rived from nature. Its redundances we may prune, its deviations we 
cuiy correct, its sphere we may enlarge : but the faculty itself we can- 
not create ; and all efforts towards a metaphorical ornamented style, 
if we are destitute of the genius proper for it, will prove awkward and 
disgusting. Let us satisfy ourselves, however, by considering that, 
without this talent, or at least with a very small measure of it, we may 
botii write and speak to advantage. Good sense, as has been said, 
clear ideas, perspicuity of language, and proper arrangement of words 
and thoughts, will always command attention. These are, indeed, the 
foundations of all solid merit both in speaking and writing. Many 
subjects require nothing more : and those which admit of ornament, 
admit it only as a secondary requisite. To study and to know our 
own genius well ; to follow nature ; to seek to improve, but not to 
force it ; are directions which cannot be too often given to those who 
desire to excel in the liberal arts. 



17- 



-ON THE NATURE OF TASTE AND THE 
SOURCES OF ITS PLEASURES, 



CHAPTER I. 



35-2. TASTE is that faculty or power of the human mind, 
which is always appealed to in disquisitions concerning the 
merit of discourse and writing ; it is the power of receiving 
pleasure from the beauties of nature and art. 

lllus. 1. The word tasle, under this metaphorical meaning-, has bor- 
rowed its name from the feeling of that external sense by which we 
veceive and distinguish the pleasures of food. 

2. This faculty is common, in some degree, to all men ; for the rel- 
ish of beauty, of one kind or other, belongs to human nature generally. 
Whatever is orderly, proportioned, grand, harmonious, new or spright- 
ly, pleases alike, but in different degrees, the philosopher- and the peas- 
ant, the child and the savage. Regular bodies, pictures, and statues, 
develope iu children the rudiments of taste ; and savages, who pride 
themselves in their ornaments of dress, their war and their death 
songs, their harangues and their orators, evince that they possess, 
with the attributes of reason and speech, some discernment of beauty, 
and the principles of taste, deeply founded in the human mind. 

353. Taste is possessed in different degrees by different 
men. Its feeble glimmerings appear in some ; in others, it 
rises to an acute discernment, and a lively enjoyment of 
the most refined beauties : the former have but a weak and 
confused impression of this power, as they relish only beau- 
ties of the coarsest kind ; the latter have a certain natural 
and instinctive possession of this faculty, which may be im- 
proved by art, and which discovers itself in their powers and 
pleasures of taste. 

Obs. This inequality is partly owing to the different frame of our 
natures, to nicer organs, and finer iuternal powers/ with which one is 



Taste. 193 

endowed beyond another ; but still more to education, and a higher 
culture of those talents, which belong- only to the ornamental part of 
life. 

354. Taste is an improveable faculty, and, refined by 
education, gives to civilized men an immense superiority 
above barbarians, and, in the same nation, to those who have 
studied the liberal arts, above the rude and untaught vulgar. 

Obs. Thus, two classes of men are far removed from each other, in 
respect to the powers and pleasures of taste ; and, for this difference, 
no other general cause can be assigned, than culture and education. 

355. Exercise is the source of improvement in all our 
faculties, in our bodily, in our mental powers, and even in 
our external senses. 

Illus. 1. Touch becomes more exquisite in men, whose employment 
leads them to examine the polish of bodies, than it is in others, whose 
trade engages no such nice exertions. 

2. Sight, in discerning the minutest objects, acquires a surprising 
accuracy in microscopical observers, and those who are accustomed to 
eugrave on precious stones. 

3. Chemists, by attending to different flavours and tastes of liquors, 
wonderfully improve the power of distinguishing them and tracing 
their composition. 

356. Placing internal taste, therefore, on the footing of a 
simple sense, frequent exercise, and curious attention to its 
proper objects, must, in the first instance, greatly heighten 
its power. 

Illus. 1. Thus, nothing is more improveable than that part of taste, 
which is called an ear for music. At first, the simplest and plainest 
compositions only are relished. Our pleasure is extended by use and 
practice, which teach us to relish finer melody, and by degrees enable 
us to enter into the intricate and compound pleasures of harmony. 

2. So an eye for the beauties of painting, is never acquired all at 
once ; nor by him who prefers the Saracen's head upon a sign-post, 
before the best tabulature of Raphael. It is gradually formed by be- 
ing conversant among pictures, and studying the works of the best 
masters. 

3. And the man who has cultivated the beauties of regularity, order, 
and proportion, in Architecture, will never prefer a rude Gothic tower, 
before the finest Grecian building. 

357. Precisely in the same manner, with respect to the 
beauty of composition and discourse, attention to the most 
approved models, study of the best authors, comparisons of 
lower and higher degrees of the same beauties, operate to- 
wards the refinement of taste. 

Illus. The sentiment that attends a reader's first acquaintance with 
works of genius, is obscure and confused. The several excellencies or 
blemishes of the performance which he peruses, cannot be pointed out, 
because be is at a loss on what to rest his judgment j but allow hint 



194 Taste. 

more experience of the subject, and his taste becomes more exact ami 
enlightened : the character of the whole work, the beauties and defects 
of each part, are perceived, and his praise or blame is at length pro- 
nounced firmly, and without hesitation. Thus, in taste, considered as 
mere sensibility, exercise opens a great source of improvement, 

358. But reason and good sense have so extensive an in- 
fluence on all its operations and decisions, that a thorough 
good taste may well be considered as a power compounded 
of natural sensibility to beauty, and of improved under- 
standing. (Art. 365.) 

Illus. 1. The greater part of the productions of genius, are no other 
than imitations of nature ; representations of the characters, actions, 
or manners of men. The pleasure we receive from such imitations, or 
representations, is founded on mere taste ; but to judge whether 
they be properly executed, belongs to the understanding, which com- 
pares the copy with the original. 

2. In reading such a poem as Paradise Lost, a great part of the 
pleasure we receive, arises from the plan or story being well conduct- 
ed, and all the parts joined together with due connexion ; from the 
characters, being suited to the subject, the sentiments to the characters, 
and the style to the sentiments. 

3. We feel or enjoy by taste, as an internal sense, the pleasure which 
arises from a poem so conducted ; but the discovery of this conduct iu 
the poem, is owing to reason ; and our pleasure will be the greater, 
the more that reason enables us to discover such propriety in the con- 
duct. 

4. Our natural sense of beauty yields us pleasure ; but reason shews 
Its why, and upon what grounds, we are pleased. Whenever, in works 
of taste, any resemblance to nature is aimed at, whenever there is any 
reference of parts to a whole, or of means to an end, as indeed there 
is in almost every writing and discourse, there the understanding must 
always have a great part to act. 

359. A second, and a very considerable source of the 
improvement of taste, arises from the application of reason 
and good sense, to works of composition, and productions of 
oenius. 

Illus. Spurious beauties, such as unnatural characters, forced senti- 
ments, and affected style, may please for a little ; but they please only, 
because we have not examined or attended to their opposition to nature 
and good sense. The illusion is dissipated, and these fa'se beauties 
cease to please, as soon as we arc shewn how nature might have been 
more justly imitated or represented, and how the writer might have 
managed his subject to greater advantage. 

360. From these two sources then, first, the frequent ex- 
ercise of taste, and next, the application of good sense and 
reason to its objects, taste, as a power of the mind, receives 
its improvement. 

Obs. In its pf.-f,ct state, it is undoubtedly the result both of nature 
and art. It supposes our natural sense of beauty to be refined by /re- 



Diversity of Taste. !$5 

quent attention to the most beautiful objects, and at the same time to 
be guided and improved by the light of the understanding. 

361. One material requisite to a just taste, besides a 
sound head, is a good heart ; for moral beauties, in them- 
selves superior to all others, exert an influence, either more 
nearly, or more remotely, on a great variety of other objects 
of taste. 

Illus. The affections, characters, and actions of men, frequently af- 
ford the noblest subjects to genius. Without possessing the virtuous 
affections, no man, where those affections, characters, or actions, are 
concerned, can exhibit their just and touching description, nor have any 
thorough .feeling of the beauty of that description. He whose heart is 
indelicate or hard, who has no admiration of what is truly noble or 
praise-worthy, nor the proper sympathetic sense of what is soft and 
tender, must have a very imperfect relish of the highest beauties of elo- 
quence and poetry. 

362. Delicacy and Correctness are the characters of 
taste, when brought to its most improved state. 

Illus. 1. Delicacy of taste respects principally the perfection of that 
natural sensibility, on which taste is founded. It implies those finer 
organs or powers, which enable us to- discover beauties that lie hid 
from a vulgar eye. A person of delicate taste, both feels strongly, and 
feels accurately. He sees distinctions and differences, where others 
see none ; the most latent beauty does not escape him, and he is sensi- 
ble of the smallest blemish. 

2. Correctness of taste respects chiefly the improvement which that 
faculty receives through its connexion with the understanding. Coun- 
terfeit beauties never impose on a man of correct taste, because he 
carries in hie mind that atawaara ot good sense, which be employs ire 
judging of every thing. 

363. Delicacy of taste is judged of by marks similar to 
those which we use in judging of the delicacy of an exter- 
nal sense. 

Illus. As the goodness of the palate is not tried by strong flavours, 
tout by a mixture of ingredients, in which, notwithstanding the confu- 
sion, we remain sensible of each ; in like manner, delicacy of internal 
taste appears, by a quick and lively sensibility to its finest, most com- 
pounded, or most latent objects. 

364. Correctness of taste is judged of by the estimate 
which a man makes of the comparative merit of several 
beauties, which he meets with, in any work of genius. 

Illus. When he refers these to their proper classes, assigns w ith pro- 
priety the principles, as far as they can be traced, whence their power 
of pleasing flows ; and is pleased himself in that degree, in which he 
ought, and no more ; we say that his taste is correct. 

365. Delicacy, and correctness of taste, mutually imply 
each Other. No taste can be exquisitely delicate, without 
being correct j nor thoroughly correct; without being deli- 



I §6 Diversity of Taste. 

cate. But still a predominancy of the one or the other* 
quality in the mixture is often visible. 

Illus. 1. The power of delicacy is chiefly seen in discerning the true 
merit of a work ; the power of correctness, in rejecting false preten- 
tions to merit. Delicacy lea as more to feeling ; correctness, more to 
reason and judgment. The former is more the gift of nature ; the lat- 
ter, more the product of culture and art 

2. Among the ancient critics, Longinus possessed most delicacy ; Ar- 
istotle, most correctness. Among the moderns, Addisoa is a high ex- 
ample of delicate taste : and bad Dea;j Swift written on criticism, he 
would perhaps have aftb'-ded the? example of a correct one. Campbell, 
Karnes, Allison, and Dugald Stewart, are examples of correct and deli- 
cate taste. 

366. Thk diversity of tastes, which prevails among 
mankind, does not in every case infer a corruption of taste, 
or oblige us to seek for some standard, in order to deter- 
mine who are in the right. 

Illus. The tastes ofmci may dilTer very considerably as to their ob- 
ject, and yet none of them be wrong. 0;ie man relishes poetry, while 
another takes pleasure in nothing but history. One prefers comedy ; 
another tragedy. One admires the simple , another, the ornamented 
style. The young are amused witn gay and sprightly compositions ; 
the elderly are more entertained with those of a graver cast Some 
nations delight in bold pictures of manners, and strong representations 
of passions ; others incline to a more correct and regular elegance, 
both in description and sentiment. Though all differ, yet all pitch up- 
on some beauty which peculiarly suits their turn of mind ; and there- 
fore no one has a title to condemn his neighbour. 

367. In questions of mere reason, there is but one conclu- 
sion that can be true; and there is some foundation for the 
preference of one man's taste to that of another. 

Illus. Truth, which is the object of reason, is one ; beauty, which is 
the object of taste, is manifold. Taste, therefore, admits of latitude 
and diversity of objects, in sufficient consistency with its goodness or 

justness. 

368. This admissible diversity of tastes, can only have 
place where the objects of taste are different. When one 
condemns as ugly what another admires as beautiful, there 
is no longer diversity, but direct opposition of taste. One 
must be right, and the other wrong. 

Illus, 1. One man prefers Virgil to Homer ; another, admires Ho- 
mer more than Virgil ; yet there is no reason to say that their tastes 
are contradictory. The one is more struck with the elegance and 
tenderness of Virgil ; the other with the simplicity and fire of Homer. 
As long as neither of them denies that both Homer and Virgil have 
great beauties, their difference falls within the compass of that diver- 
sity of tastes, which is both natural and allowable. (Art. 366.) 

2. But if a third man should assert that Homer has no beauties 
whatever, and that Virgil is devoid of elegance and tenderness, — thai 



Standard of Taste, lyi 

he holds the one to be a dull, spiritless writer, and the other to be a 
mere copiest, that in distinction to the iEneid he would as soon peruse 
Rebi'- on Crusoe, or Jack the Giant Killer to the Iliad ; both the other 
men would pronounce him void of all taste, or exclaim that his taste 
was corrupted in a miserable degree. 

3. Or if either of the two men who disputed about the pre-eminence 
of Virgil or of Homer, should evince the same disposition as the third 
man shewed ; his antagonist would appeal to whatever he thought the 
standard of taste to shew him that he was in the wrong. 

369. A standard properly signifies that, which, being 
fixed by convention, is of such undoubted authority as to be 
the test of other things of the same kind. 

[llus 1. Thus a standard weight or measure is that which is appoint - 
ed by law to regulate all other weights and measures. 

2. Thus, also, the Court is said to be the standard of good breeding ; 
and the Scripture, of theological truth. 

370. In all cases where an imitation is intended of some 
object that exists in nature, as in representing human char- 
acters and actions, nature is the standard of taste, because 
conformity to it affords a full and distinct criterion of what 
is truly beautiful. 

Obs. Reason hath in such cases full scope for exerting its authority, 
for approving or condemning ; by comparing the copy with the origin- 
al. But there are innumerable cases in which this rule cannot be ap- 
plied ; and conformity with nature is an expression frequently used, 
without any distinct or determinate meaning. The standard of taste 
must, therefore, be something which is clear and precise, without any 
imperfection, irregularity, or disorder. 

371. The general sentiments of mankind must be consid- 
ered the standard to which the ultimate appeal must ever 
lie, in all works of taste. 

lllus. If any one should maintain that sugar was bitter, and tobacco 
sweet, no reasonings on his part could avail to prove this position : 
mankind would infallibly hold the taste of such a person to be diseas- 
ed, merely because it differed diametrically from the taste of the spe- 
cies to which he belonged. In like manner, with regard to the objects 
of sentiment or internal taste, the common feelings of men carry the 
same authority, and become an universal standard to regulate the taste 
of every individual. 

372. There is nothing but the taste, as far as it can be 
gathered, of human nature, of sufficient authority to be the 
standard of the various and opposite tastes of men. 

J Hits. That which men concur the most in admiring must be reckon- 
ed beautiful. His taste must be esteemed just and true which coincides 
wilh the general sentiments of men. He who, in any dispute, appeals 
to the common sense of mankind as the ultimate rule or standard by 
which he will be judged, evinces a conviction of a common standard 
to which his taste is right or good if conformable, while that ofbii op- 
ponent must be wrong or bad, if disconformable. The taste of a whole 



198 Standard of Taste. 

people, guided by reason and virtue, must generally be exquisite aod 
just, their internal senses unerring and sure. He who allows submis^ 
sioa to be due to the determinations of all mankind, acknowledges a 
perfect standard for the taste of al! others. 

373. But besides the approbation of the majority, there 
are principles of reason and sound judgment which can be 
applied to matters of taste, as well as to the subjects of sci- 
ence and philosophy. 

Ilius. He who admires or censures any work of genius, is always 
ready, if his taste be improved, to assign some reasons for his decision. 
He appeals to principles, and points out the grounds on which he pro- 
ceeds. Taste is, therefore, a sort of compound power, in which the 
light of the understanding always mingles, more or less, with the feel- 
ings of sentiment. 

374. The ultimate conclusions to which our reasonings 
lead, in judging concerning works of taste, refer at last to 
sense and perception. 

Illus. 1. Just reasonings concerning propriety of conduct in a trage- 
dy, or an epic poem, will correct the caprice of unenlightened taste, 
and establish principles for judging of what deserves praise. These 
reasonings, in the last resort, appeal always to feeling. Their founda- 
tion is deeply laid in whatever has been found from experience to 
please mankind universally. 

2. Upon this ground, we prefer a simple and natural, to an artificial 
style ; a regular and well-connected story, to loose and scattered nar- 
ratives ; a catastrophe which is tender and pathetic, to one which 
leaves us unmoved. 

Corol. It is from consulting our own imagination and heart, and 
from attending to the feelings of others, that any principles are formed 
which acquire authority in matters of taste. 

375. When we refer to the concurring sentiments of men 
as to the ultimate test of what is to be accounted beautiful 
in the arts, this is always to be understood of men placed in 
such situations as are favourable to the proper exertions of 
taste. 

Illus. The sentiments of mankind in polished and flourishing na- 
tions, where arts are cultivated, and manners refined, where works of 
genius are subject to free discussion, and taste is improved by sci- 
ence and philosophy, — become the principles of authority which must 
necessarily be decisive of every controversy that can arise upon matters 
of taste. 

376. We conclude, therefore, that taste is not an arbitra- 
ry principle, subject to the fancy of every individual, and 
admitting no criterion by which to determine whether v be 
true or false. Its foundation is the same in all human minds. 
It is built upon sentiments and perceptions which belong t© 
our nature ;' and which in general operate with the same uni- 
formity as our other intellectual principles. 



Standard of Taste. 199 

§b$. When these sentiments are perverted by ignorance and preju- 
dice, they are capable of being rectified by reason. Their sound and 
natural state is ultimately determined, by comparing them with the 
general taste of mankind. 

377. In every composition, what interests the heart pleas- 
es all ages and all nations. There is a certain string to 
which, when properly struck^ the human heart is so made as 
to answer. 

Illus.l. Hence, the universal testimony which the most improved 
nations of the earth have conspired, throughout a long succession of 
ages, to give to some few works of genius ; such as the Iliad of Homer, 
and the iEneid of Virgil. 

2. Hence, the authority which such works have acquired as stand- 
ards, in some degree, of poetical composition ; since from them we are 
enabled to collect what the sense of mankind is, concerning those 
beauties which give them the highest pleasure, and which, therefore, 
poetry ought to exhibit. 

378. Uniformity of taste and sentiment resulting from 
our conviction of a common standard, leads to two import- 
ant final causes ; the one respecting our duty, the other, 
our pastime or amusement. 

Obs. Barely to mention the first, shall be sufficient, because it does 
not properly belong to the present undertaking. Unhappy it would be 
for us did not uniformity prevail in morals : that our actions should 
uniformly be directed to what is good and against what is ill, is the 
greatest blessing of society ; and in order to uniformity in action, uni- 
formity of opinion and sentiment is indispensable. 

379. With respect to pastime in general, and the fine 
arts in particular, the following illustrations make the final 
cause of uniformity abundantly obvious. 

IUus. 1. Uniformity of taste gives opportunity for sumptuous and 
elegant buildings, for fine gardens, and extensive establishments which 
please generally. 

2 The reason is obvious: without uniformity of taste, there could 
not be any suitable reward, either of profit or honour, to encourage 
men of genius to labour in such works, and to advance them to perfec- 
tion. 

3. The same uniformity of taste is equally necessary to perfect the 
arts of music, sculpture, and pairUing-, and to support the expense 
which they require after they are brought to perfection. 

4 Nature is, in every particular, consistent with herself: we are 
framed by nature to have a high relish for the fine arts, which are a 
groat source of happiness, and friendly in a high degree to virtue : we 
a»-e. at the sara- time, framed wi'.h uniformity of taste to furnish pro- 
per objects for that high relish ; and if uniformity did not prevail, the 
fine arts would nover have made any figure. 

380. Another final cause no less obvious, is the separation 
of men into different classes, by birth, office, or occupation. 
"How much soever this separation might tend to relax the 

18 



200 Criticism. 

connexion that ought to subsist among the members of the 
same state, its effects are prevented by the access of all 
ranks of people to public spectacles and amusements. These 
assemblages of people of one country are best enjoyed in 
company. In this common fellowship every one partakes 
of the same pleasures. Such meetings are, therefore, no 
slight support to the social affections* and to uniformity of 
taste. 



CHAPTER IL 



CRITICISM. 



381. TASTE, criticism, and genius, are words currently 
employed, without distinct ideas annexed to them. 

Definition. True criticism is the application of taste and of good 
sense to the several fine arts. The object which it proposes is, to dis- 
tinguish what is beautiful and what is faulty in every performance ; 
from particular instances to ascend to general principles ; and so to 
form rules or conclusions concerning the several kinds of beauty ia 
works of genius. 

lllus. The rules of criticism are not formed by any induction, a pri~ 
ori, as it is called ; that is, they are not formed by a train of ab- 
stract reasoning, independent of facts and observations. Criticism is 
an art founded wholly on experience ; on the observations of sucb 
beauties as have come nearest to the standard which we before estab- 
lished ; that is, of such beauties as have been found to please mankind 
most generally, (rfrt. 371.) 

2. For example; Aristotle's rules concerning the unity of action in 
dramatic and epic composition, were not first discovered by logical 
reasoning, and then applied to poetry ; but they were rules drawr* 
from the practice of Homer and Sophocles : they were founded upon 
observing the superior pleasure which mankind received from the rela- 
tion of an action which was one and entire, beyond what they receiv- 
ed from the relation of scattered and unconnected facts. 

3. Such observations taking their rise at first from feeling and ex- 
perience, were found, on examination, to be so consonant to reason, 
and to the principles of human ■ature, as to pass into established 
rules, and to be conveniently applied for judging of the excellency of 
any performance. This is the most natural account of the origin of 
criticism. 

382. A masterly genius, it is true, will of himself, un- 
taught, compose in such a manner as shall be agreeable to 

• On works of taste, the student may now consult Dr. Gerrard's Eisay on Taste— 
D'Alembert's Reflections on the use and abuse of Philosophy in matters which relate 
to taste— Reflections Critiques sur la Poesie ft sur In Pemture— Karnes' Elements of 
Criticism— Hume's Essay on the Standard of Tasit— Introduction to the Essay on the 
Sublime ami Beautiful— Blair's Lectmos, and Allison on Taste. 



Criticism. £0* 

the most material rules of criticism ; for as these rules are 
founded in nature, nature will often suggest them in prac- 
tice. 

Illus. It is more than probable that Homer was acquainted with no 
systems of the art of poetry. Guided by genius alone, he composed 
in verse a regular story, which all posterity has admired. But this is 
no argument against the usefulness of criticism as an art. For as no 
human genius is perfect, there is no writer but may receive assistance 
from critical observations upon the beauties and faults of those who 
have gone before him. No observations or rules can indeed supply the 
defect of genius, or inspire it where it is wanting. But they may of- 
ten direct it into its proper channel ; they may correct its extrava- 
gances, and point out to it the most just and proper imitation of na- 
ture. Critical rules are designed chiefly to shew the faults that ought 
to be avoided. To nature we must be indebted for the production of 
eminent beauties. (See Corol. I. p. 59.) 

383. From what has been said, we are enabled to form a 
judgment concerning those complaints which it has long 
been fashionable for petty authors to make against critics 
and criticism. 

Illus. 1. Critics have been represented as the great abridgers of the 
aative liberty of genius ; as the imposers of unnatural shackles am} 
bonds upon writers, from whose cruel persecution they must fly to the 
public, and implore its protection. Such supplicatory prefaces are not 
calculated to give very favourable ideas of the genius of the author. 
For every good writer will be pleased to have his work examined by 
the principles of sound understanding and true taste. 

2. The declamations against criticism commonly proceed upon this' 
supposition, that critics are such as judge by rule, not by feeling. 
This is so far from being true, that they who judge after this manner 
are pedants, not critics. For all the rules of genuine criticism will be 
found to be ultimately founded on feeling ; and taste and feeling are 
necessary to guide us in the application of these rules to every partic- 
ular instance. 

3. As there is nothing in which all sorts of persons more readily af- 
fect to be judges, than in works of taste, there is no doubt that the 
number of incompetent critics will always be great. But this affords 
no more foundation for a general invective against criticism, than the 
number of bad philosophers or reasoners affords against sound philo- 
sophy and logic. 

384. An objection more plausible may be formed against 
criticism, from the applause that some performances have 
received from the public, which, when accurately consider- 
ed, are found to contradict the rules established by criti- 
cism. 

Illus. Now, according to the principles laid down in the last chapter, 
the public is the supreme judge to whom the last appeal must be made 
in every work of taste ; as the standard of taste is founded on the 
sentiments that are natural and common to all men. But with respect 
to this, we are to observe, that the sense of the public is often too 
hastily judged of. The genuine public taste does not always appear 



2Q2 Of Genius. 

in the first applause given upon the publication of any new W6fU- 
There are both the great vulgar, and the small vulgar, who are apt to 
be catched and dazzled by very superficial beauties, the admiration of 
nfhich in a little time passes away : and sometimes a writer mav ac- 
quire great temporary reputation, merely by his compliance wkh the 
passions or prejudices, with the party spirit or superstitious notions, 
that may chance to rule for a time almost a whole nation. In such 
cases, though the public may seem to praise, true criticism may with 
reason condemn ; and it will in progress of time gain the ascendant : 
for the judgment of true criticism, and the voice of the public, whea 
once become unprejudiced and dispassionate, will ultimately coincide. 

385. There are some works that contain gross transgres- 
sions of the laws of criticism, which, nevertheless, have ac- 
quired a general, and even a lasting admiration. 

Was. 1. Such are the plays of Shakspeare, which, considered as 
dramatic poems, are irregular in the highest degree. But then they 
have gained the public admiration, not by their being irregular, not 
by their transgression of the rules of art, but in spite of such trans- 
gressions. 'Ihey possess other beauties which are conformable to 
just rules ; and the force of these beauties has been so great as to 
overpower all censure, and to give the public a degree of satisfaction 
superior to the disgust arising from their blemishes. 

2. Shakspeare pleases, not by his bringing the transactions of 
many years into one play ; not by his grotesque mixtures of tragedy 
and coined)' in one piece, nor by the strained thoughts, and affected 
witticisms, which he sometimes employs. These we consider ae 
blemishes, and mpute them to the grossness of the age in which he 
lived. But he pleases by his animated and masterly representations 
of characters, by the liveliness of his descriptions, the force of his 
sentiments, and his posssessing, beyond all writers, the natural lan- 
guage of passion : beauties which true criticism no less teaches us t® 
place in the highest rank, than nature teaches us to feel. 



CHAPTER III. 

0¥ GENIUS. 

386. TASTE and Genius are two words frequently 
joined together; and therefore, by inaccurate thinkers, con- 
founded. Taste consists in the power of judging $ genius, 
in the power of executing. 

Jllus. 1. One may have a considerable degree of taste in poetry, elo- 
quence, or any of "the fine arts, who has little or hardly any genius for 
composition or execution in any of these arts ; but genius cannot be 
found without including taste also. Genius, therefore, deserves to be 
considered as a higher power of the mind than taste. 

2. Genius always imports something inventive or creative ; which 
docs net rest in mere sensibility to beauty where it is perceived, hut 



Of Genius, 



m 






Much can, moreover, produce new beauties, and exhibit them in such 
a maimer as strongly to impress the minds of others. Refined taste 
forms a good critic ; but genius is farther necessary to form the poet, 
or the orator, 

3. Genius. is a word, which, in common acceptation, extends much 
farther than to the objects of taste. It is used to signify that talent or 
aptitude which we receive from nature, for excelling in any one thing 
whatever. Thus we speak of a genius for mathematics, as well as a 
genius for poetry ; of a genius for war, for politics, or for any mechan- 
ical employment. 

387. This talent or aptitude for excelling in some one 
particular, is what we receive from nature. By art and 
study, no doubt, it may be greatly improved ; but by them 
alone it cannot be acquired. 

Illus. 1. As genius is a higher faculty than taste, it is ever, accord- 
ing to the usual frugality of nature, more limited in the sphere of its 
operations. It is not uncommon to meet with persons who have an 
excellent taste in several of the polite arts, such as music, poetry, 
painting, and eloquence, all together : but, to find one who is an ex- 
cellent performer in all these arts, is much more rare ; or rather, in- 
deed, such an one is not to be looked for. 

2. A sort of universal genius, or one who is equally and indifferently 
turned towards several different professions and arts, is not likely to 
excel in any. Although there may be some few exceptions, yet in 
general it holds, that when the bent of the mind is exclusively directed 
towards some one object, there is the fairest prospect of eminence in 
that, whatever it be. The rays must converge to a point, in order to 
glow intensely. This remark is the more necessary, on account of its 
great importance to young people, in leading them to examine with 
care, and to pursue with ardour, the current and pointing of nature 
towards those exertions of genius in which they are most likely to 
excel. 

388. A genius for any of the fine arts, always supposes 
taste ; it is clear, that the improvement of taste will serve 
both to forward and to correct the operations of genius. 

Illus. 1. In proportion as the taste of a poet, or orator, becomes 
more refined with respect to the beauties of composition, it will cer- 
tainly assist him to produce the more finished beauties in his work. 
Genius, however, in a poet, or orator, may sometimes exist in a high- 
er degree than taste ; that is, genius may be bold and strong, when 
taste is neither very delicate, nor very correct. 

2. This is often the case in the infancy of arts : a period when gen- 
ius frequently exerts itself with great vigour, and executes with much 
warmth ; while taste, which requires experience, and improves by 
slower degrees, hath not yet attained to its full growth. 

3. Homer and Shakespeare are proofs of what is here asserted. Tn 
the admirable writings of those two great poets are found instances of 
rudeness and indelicacy, which the more refined taste of later writers, 
of far inferior genius, would have taught them to avoid. 

4. As all human perfection is limited, this may very probably be the 
law of our nature, that it is not si^en to one man to execute with vig- 

18* 



304 > The Pleasures of Taste. 

our and fire, and, at the same time, to attend to all the lesser and gnora 
refined graces that belong to the exact perfection of his work : while. 
on the other hand, a thorough taste for those inferior graces is, for the 
most part, accompanied with a diminution of sublimity and force. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SOURCES OF THE PLEASURES OF TASTE. 

389. HAVING now explained the nature of taste, the 
nature and importance of criticism, and the distinction be- 
tween taste and genius ; we are now to consider the 

SOURCES OF THE PLEASURES OF TASTE^ 

Obs. Here opens a very extensive field ; no less than all the plea* 
sures of the imagination, as they are commonly called, whether afford- 
ed us by natural objects, or by the imitations and descriptions of them. 
But it is not necessary to the purpose of this Grammar, that all these 
should be examined fully ; the pleasure which we receive from dis- 
course, or writing, being the main object of them, so far as rhetoric is 
concerned. All that is proposed, is to give some openings into the 
pleasures of taste in general ; and to insist more particularly upon 
sublimity and beauty. 

Illus. 1. It is difficult to make a full enumeration of the several ob- 
jects that give pleasure to taste ; it is more difficult to. define all those 
which have been discovered, and to reduce them under proper classes ; 
and, when we would go farther, and investigate the efficient causes of 
the pleasure which we receive from such objects, here, above all, we 
find ourselves at a loss. 

2. For instance ; we all learn by experience, that certain figures of 
bodies appear to us more beautiful than others. On inquiring farther,, 
we find that the regularity of some figures, and the graceful variety of 
•thers, are the foundation of the beauty which we discern in them ; but 
when we attempt to go a step beyond this, and inquire what is the 
eause of regularity and variety producing in our minds the sensation 
of beauty, any reason we can assign is extremely imperfect. These 
first principles of internal sensation, nature seems to have covered with 
an impenetrable veil. 

3. Although the efficient cause be obscure, the final cause of those 
sensations lies in many cases more open : and, in entering on this sub- 
ject, we cannot avoid taking notice of the strong impression which the 
powers of taste and imagination are calculated to give us of the benig- 
nity of our Creator. 

4. By endowing us with such powers, he hath widely enlarged the 
sphere of the pleasures of human life ; and those too of a kind the 
most pure and innocent. The necessary purposes of life might have- 
been abundantly answered, though our senses of seeing and hearing 
had only served to distinguish external objects, without conveying to 
us any of those refined and delicate sensations of beauty and grandeur 
with which we are now so much delighted. 

■5. This additional embellishment and glory, which, for promoting ova 



_____ 



Grandeur and Sublimity. 205 

entertainment, the Author of Nature hath poured forth upon his works \ 
is one striking- testimony, among many others, of His benevolence and 
goodness. 

6. This thought, which Mr. Addison first started, Dr. Akenside, in 
his poem on the Pleasures of the Imagination, has happily pursued, 

- Not content 

With every food of life to nourish man, 
By kind allusions of the wondering sense, 
Thou mak'st all nature, beauty to his eye, 
Or muiic to his ear. - - - 

390. First, then, we begin with considering the pleasure 
which arises from sublimity or grandeur. 

Illus. It is not easy to describe, in words, the precise impression 
which great and sublime objects make upon us when we behold them, 
but every one has a conception of it. It produces a sort of internal 
elevation and expansion ; it raises the mind much above its ordinary 
state ; and fills it with a degree of wonder and astonishment, which it 
cannot well express. The emotion is certainly delightful ; but it is 
altogether of the serious kind ; a degree of awfulness and solemnity, 
even approaching to severity, commonly attends it when at its height ; 
very distinguishable from the more gay and brisk emotion raised by 
beautiful objects. 

391. The simplest form of external grandeur appears in 
the vast and boundless prospects presented to us by nature ; 
such as wide extended plains, to which the eye can see no 
limits ; the firmament of heaven ; or the boundless expanse 
of the ocean. All vastness produces the impression of sub- 
limity. 

Illus. It is to be remarked, however, that space, extended in length, 
makes not so strong an impression as height or depth. Though a 
boundless plain be a grand object, yet a high mountain, to which we 
look up, or an awful precipice or tower, whence we look down on the 
objects which lie below, is still more so, 

2. The excessive grandeur of the firmament arises from its height, 
joined to its boundless extent ; and that of the ocean, not from its ex- 
tent alone, but from the perpetual motion and irresistible force of that 
mass of waters. Wherever space is concerned, it is clear, that ampli- 
tude or greatness of extent, in one dimension or other, is necessary to 
grandeur. Remove all bounds from any object, and you presently 
render it sublime. 

Corol. Hence, infinite space, endless numbers, and eternal duration, 
fill the mind with great ideas. 

392. But vastness, or amplitude of extent, is not alone 
the foundation of all sublimity ; because many objects ap- 
pear sublime, which have no relation to space at all. 

Illus. Such, for instance, is great loudness of sound. The burst of 
thunder or of cannon, the roaring of winds, the shouting of multitudes, 
the sound of vast cataracts of water, are all incontestibly graud objects. 
In general we may observe, that great power and force exerted, always 
raise sublime ideas ; and perhaps the most copious source of these is 
derived from this quarter. Hence the grandeur of earthquakes and 



206 The Pleasures of Taste, 

burning mountains ; of great conflagrations ; of the stormy ocero. 
and overflowing waters ; of tempests of wind ; of thunder and lighte- 
ning ; and of all the uncommon violence of the elements. 

2. Nothing is more sublime than mighty power and strength. A 
stream that runs within its hanks is a beautiful object ; but when it 
rushes down with the impetuosity and noise of a torrent, it presently 
becomes a sublime one. From lions, and other animals of strength, 
are drawn sublime comparisons in poets. A race-horse is looked up- 
on with pleasure ; but it is tin 1 war-horse, " whose neck is clothed 
with thunder," that carries grandeur in its appearance, or our idea of 
the animal. 

3. The engagement of two great armies, as it is the highest exertion 
of human might, combines a variety of sources of the sublime ; and has 
accordingly been always considered as one of the most striking and 
magnificent spectacles that can either be presented to the eye, or exhi- 
bited to the imagination in description, 

Example. " Like Autumn's dark storms, pouring from two echoing 
hills, towards each other, approached the heroes : as two dark streams 
from high rocks, meet and roar on the plain, loud, rough, and dark in 
battle, meet Lochlin and Inisfail. Chief mixes his strokes with chief, 
and man with man : steel sounds on steel, and helmets are cleft on 
high ; blood bursts, and smokes around : strings murmur on the pol- 
ished yew: darts rush along the sky : spears fall like sparks of flame 
that gild the stormy face of night. 

" As the noise of troubled ocean when roll the waves on high, as the 
last peal of thundering heaven ; such is the noise of battle. Though 
Cormacs' hundred bards were there, feeble were the voice of an hun- 
dred bards, to send the deaths to future times ; for many were the 
deaths of the heroes, and wide poured the blood of the valiant." Fin- 
gal. 

Analysis. Never were images more awfully sublime, employed to 
heighten the terror of a battle. 

393. For the farther illustration of this subject, it is pro- 
per to remark, that all ideas of the solemn and awful kind, 
and even bordering on the terrible, tend greatly to assist the 
sublime : such as darkness, solitude, and silence. 

lllus. 1. What are the scenes of nature that elevate the mind in the 
highest degree, and produce the sublime sensation ? Not the gay land- 
scape, the flowery field, or the flourishing city ; but the hoary moun- 
tain, and the solitary lake ; the aged forest, and the torrent falling 
over the rock. 

2. Hence, too, night-scenes are commonly the most sublime. The 
firmament, when filled with stars, scattered in such vast numbers, and 
with such magnificent profusion, strikes the imagination with a more 
awful grandeur, than when we view it enlightened with all the splen- 
dour of the sun. 

3. The deep sound of a great bell, or the striking of a great clock, 
are at any time grand ; but, when heard amid the silence and stillness 
of the night, they become doubly so. 

4. Darkness is very commonly applied for adding sublimity to all 
our ideas of the Deity. " He raaketh darkness his pavilion ; he dwell- 
eth in the thick cloud." 

tSo Milton : 



Grandeur and Sublimity, 207* 

* ... How oft, amidst 

Thick clouds and dark, does Heaven's all-roling Sirte 

Choose to reside, his glory unobscured, 

And with the majesty of darkness, round 

Circles his throne. - - - Par. Lost, Book II. 263. 

594. Obscurity, we are farther to remark, is not unfa- 
vourable to the sublime. Though it render the object in- 
distinct, the impression, however, may be great ; for as an 
ingenious author has well observed, it is one thing to make 
an idea clear, and another to make it affecting to the ima- 
gination ; and the imagination may be strongly aftected s 
and, in fact, often is so, by objects of which we have no clear 
conception. 

lllus. Thus we see, that almost all the descriptions given ns of the 
appearances of supernatural beings, carry some sublimity, though the 
conceptions which they afford us be confused and indistinct. Their 
sublimity arises from the ideas, which they always convey, of superior 
power and might, joined with an awful obscurity. 

Example. We may see this fully exemplified in the following noble 
passage of the Book of Job : " In thoughts from the visions of the 
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, fear came upon me, and 
trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed 
before my face ; the hair of my flesh stood up : it stood still ; but I 
could not discern the form thereof ; an image was before my eyes ; 
there was silence ; and 1 heard a voice— shall mortal man be more 
just than God ?"* 

Scholium. No ideas, it is plain, are so sublime as those taken from 
the Supreme Being ; the most unknown, but the greatest of all objects ; 
the infinity of whose nature, and the eternity of whose duration; join- 
ed with the omnipotence of his power, though they surpass cur con- 
ceptions, yet exalt them to the highest. In general, all objects that 
are greatly raised above us, or far removed from us, either in space or 
in time, are apt to strike us as great. Our viewing them as through 
the mist of distance or antiquity, is favourable to the impressions of 
their sublimity. 

395. As obscurity, so disorder too, is very compatible 
with grandeur ; nay, frequently heightens it. Few things 
that are strictly regular, and methodical, appear sublime. 

Illus. We see the limits on every side : we feel ourselves confined ; 
there is no room for the mind's exerting any great effort. Exact > o- 
portion of parts, though it enters often into the beautiful, is mu< h dis- 
regarded in the sublime. A great mass of rocks, thrown together by 
the hand of nature, with wiklness and contusion, strike the mind v, iih 
more grandeur than if they had been adjusted to one another with the 
most accurate symmetry. 

Obs. \n the feeble attempts which human art can make towards pro- 
ducing grand objects, (feeble, doubtless, in comparison with the physi- 
cal powers of nature,) greatness ot dimensions always constitutes & 
principle part. No pile of building can convey any idea of sublimity t 
tjfiless it be ample and lofty. There is, too, i» archjtesturef what If 



• Jok ir. 



^ 



SOS The Pleasures of Taste, 

©ailed greatness of manner ; which seems chiefly to arise from pre- 
senting the objecJ to us in one full point of view ; so that it shall make 
its anpression whole, entire, and undivided upon the mind. A Gothic 
cathedral raises ideas of grandeur in our minds, by its size, its height, 
its awful obscurity, it strength, its autiquity, and its durability. 

398. There still remains to be mentioned one class of 
sublime objects, which may be called the moral, or senti- 
mental sublime ; arising from certain exertions of the hu- 
man mind ; from certain affections, and actions, of our fel- 
low creatures. 

Illus. These will be found to be all, or chiefly of that class, which 
comes under the head of magnanimity, or heroism; and they produce 
an effect extremely similar to what is produced by the view of grand 
objects in nature ; filling the mind with admiration, and elevating it 
above itself. 

Example 1. —Somerset. Ah ! Warwick, Warwick, wert theu as we are, 
We might recover all our loss again. 
The Queen from France hath brought a puissant power ; 
Even now we heard the newg. Ah I could st thou fly ! 
Warwick. Why then 1 would not fly 

Third Part of Henry fl. Act T. Scene 2. 

Analysis. Such a sentiment from a man expiring of his wounds ig 
trttly heroic ; and must elevate the mind to the greatest height that 
can be done by a single expression. 

Example 2. Porus, taken prisoner by Alexander, after a gallant de- 
fence, and asked, How he wished to be treated ? aaswered, " Like a 
king." 

3. Caesar chiding the pilot, who was afraid to set out with him in a 
storm, " Quid times ? Cassareni vehis ;" is another good instance of 
this sentimental sublime. 

Coral. Wherever, in some critical and high situation, we behold a 
man uncommonly intrepid, and resting upon himself; superior to pas- 
sion and to fear ; animated by some great principle to the contempt 
of popular opinion, of selfish interest, of dangers, or of death ; there 
we are struck with a sense of the sublime. (See Scholia 2. Art. 419.) 

397- High virtue is the most natural and fertile source of 
this moral sublimity. However, on some occasions, where 
virtue either has no place, or is but imperfectly displayed, 
yet if extraordinary vigour and force of mind be discovered, 
we are not insensible to a degree of grandeur in the charac- 
ter ; and from the splendid conqueror, or the daring conspi- 
rator, whom we are far from approving, we cannot withhold 
our admiration. 

Example. The sublime in natural, and the sublime in moral objects, 
are brought before us in one view, and compared together, in the fol- 
lowing beautiful passage of Akenside's Pleasures of the Imagination,: 

Look then abroad through nature ; to the range 
Of planets, suns, and adamantine spheres, 
Wh -ling, unshaktn. through the void immense ; 
And speak, O man ! does this capacious scene 1 ) 
YYith half that kindling majesty, djjare 



The Sublime in Writing. 209 

Thy stvong conception, as when Brutus rose 
Refulgent, from the stroke of Caesar's fate, 
Amid rjv croud of pdriots : and his arm 
Aluft extending, like eternal Jove, 
"When jruilt brings down the thunder, call'd aloud 
On Tully's name, and shook his cri;nson steel, 
And bade the father ol his country hail ! 
For lo ! the < yrant prostrate on the dust ; 
And Rome again is free. Book I. 

Scholia 1. Wo have now enumerated a variety of instances, both in 
inanimate objects and in human life, where the sublime appears. In 
all these instances, the emotion raised in us is of the same kind, al- 
though the objects that produce the emotion be of wid< }y different kinds, 

2. A question next arise*, whether we are able to o^cove'r some one 
fundamental quality, in which all these different objects agree, nnd 
which is the cause of their producing an emotion of the same nature in 
our minds ? Various hypotheses lutve been formed concerning this. 

3. Some have imagined that amplitude or great extent, joined with 
simplicity, is either immediately, or remotely, the fundamental quality 
of whatever is sublime ; but we have seen that amplitude is confined 
to one species of sublime objects ; and cannot, without violent strain- 
ing, be applied to them all. 

4 Again, terror has been supposed the source of the sublime, and 
that no objects have this character but such as produce impressions of 
pain and danger. It is indeed true s that many terrible objects are 
highly sublime ; and that grandeur does not refuse an alliance with 
the idea of danger. But then this seems to stretch the theory too far ; 
for the sublime does not consist wholly in modes of danger, or of pain. 
The proper sensation of sublimity appears to be distinguishable from 
the sensation of either of these ; and, on several occasions, to be en- 
tirely separated from them. 

6. In many grand objects, there is no coincidence with terror at all ; 
as in the magnificent prospect of wide extended plains, and of the star- 
ry firmament ; or in the moral dispositions and sentiments, which we 
view with high admiration ; and in many painful and terrible objects 
also, it is clear, there is no sort of grandeur. The amputation of a 
limb, or the bite of a snake, are exceedingly terrible ; but are destitute 
of all claim whatever to sublimity. 

6. Mighty force or poicer, whether accompanied w'th terror or not, 
whether employed in protecting or in alarming us, has perhaps a better 
title than any thing that has yet been mentioned, to be the fundament- 
al quality of the sublime ; as, after the review which we have taken, 
there does not occur any sublime object, into the idea of which, power, 
or strength, or force, does not enter, either directly, or, at least, inti- 
mately associated with the idea, by leading our thoughts to some as- 
tonishing power, as concerned in the production of the object. 



CHAPTER V* 

THE SUBLIME IN WRITING- 

308. HAVING treated of grandeur or sublimity, in ex- 
ternal objects, the way seems now to be cleared, for treating, 



219 The Pleasures of Taste. 

with more advantage, of the description of such objects ; or, 
of what is called the sublime in writing. The foundation 
of the sublime in composition, must always be laid in the na- 
ture of the object described. 

lllus. 1. Unless it be such an object as, if presented to our eyes, if 
exhibited to us in reality, would raise ideas of that elvating, that awful, 
and magnificent kind, which we call sublime ; the description, however 
finely drawn, is not entitled to come under this class. This excludes 
all objects that are merely beautiful, gay, or elegant. 

2. In the next place, the object must not only, in itself, be sublime, 
but it must be set before us in such a light as is most proper to give 
us a clear and full impression of it ; it must be described with strength, 
with conciseness, and simplicity. This depends principally, upon the 
lively impression which the poet, or orator, has of tne object which he 
exhibit* ; and upon his being deeply affected, and warmed, by the 
sublime idea which he would convey. If his own feeling be languid, 
lie can never inspire us with any strong emotion. Instances, which 
are extremely necessary on this subject, will clearly shew the impor- 
tance of all the requisites which we have just now mentioned. 

S99. It is, generally speaking, among the most ancient 
authors, that we are to look for the most striking instances 
of the sublime. The early ages of the world, and the rude 
unimproved state of society, are peculiarly favorable to the 
strong emotions of sublimity. 

Illus. The genius of men is then much turned to admiration and 
astonishment. Meeting with many objects, to them new and strange, 
their imagination is kept glowing, and their passions are often raised 
to the utmost. They think, and express themselves boldly, aud with- 
out restraint. In the progress of society, the genius and manners of 
meo undergo a change more favourable to accuracy, than to strength 
or sublimity. (See. Art. 31 and 32.^) 

400. Of all writings, ancient or modern, the sacred Scrip- 
tures afford us the highest instances of the sublime. The 
descriptions of the Deity, in them, are wonderfully noble ; 
both from the grandeur of the object, and the manner of rep- 
resenting it. 

Example 1. What an assemblage, for instance, of awful and sublime 
ideas is presented to us, in that passage of the 18th Psalm, where an 
appearance of the Almighty is described ? 

2. u In my distress I called upon the Lord ; he heard my voice out of 
his temple, and my cry came before him. Then the earth shook and 
trembled ; the foundations also of the hiils were moved ; because he 
was wroth. He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was 
under his feet ; and he did ride upon a cherub, and did fly ; yea, he 
he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret 
place ; his pavilion round about him were dark waters, and thick 
clouds of the sky." 

Analysis Here, agreeably to the principles established in Chapter 
IV. (Art. 394,) we see with what propriety aad success the circum- 



The Sublime in Writing, 211 

Slices of darkness and terror are applied for heightening- the sublime. 

Example 3. So, also, the prophet Habakkuk, in a similar passage : 
<< He stood aiid measured the earth ; he beheld, and drove asuudev 
the nations. The everlasting mountains were scattered ; the perpet- 
ual hills did bow ; his ways are-everlasting. The mountains saw thee ; 
and they trembled. The ■ overflowing of the water passed by. The 
deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high." 

4. There is a passage in the Psalms, which deserves to be mentioned 
under this head : " God stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their 
waves, and the tumults of the people." 

Analysis. The joining together two such grand objects, as the raging 
of the waters, and the tumults of the people, between which there is so 
«nuch resemblance as to form a very natural association in the fancy, 
and the representing them both as subject, at one moment, to the com- 
mand of God, produces a noble effect. 

401. Homer is a poet, who, in all ages, and by all critics, 
!ias been greatly admired for sublimity ; and he owes much 
of his grandeur to that native and unaffected simplicity, 
which characterises his manner. 

Illus. His descriptions of hosts engaging ; the animation, the fire, 
and rapidity, which he throws into his battles, present to evpry reader 
of the Iliad, frequent instances of sublime writing. His introduction 
of the gods, tends often to heighten, in a high degree, the majesty of 
his warlike scenes. 

Example 1. Hence Longinus bestows such high and just commen- 
dations on that passage in the loth Book of the Iliad, where Neptune, 
when preparing to issue forth into the engagement, is described as 
shaking the mountains with his steps, and driving his chariot along the 
ocean. 

•2. Minerva, arming herself for fight, in the 5th Book ; and Apoilo, 
in the 15th, leading on the Trojans, and flashing terror with his tegis 
on the face of the Greeks ; are similar instances of great sublimity 
added to the description of battles, by the appearances of those celes- 
tial beings. 

3. It? the 20th Book, where all the gods take part in the engage- 
ment, according as they severally favour either the Grecians or the 
Trojans, the poet's genius is signally displayed, and the description 
vises into the most awful magnificence. All nature is represented as 
in commotion. Jupiter thunders in the heavens ; Neptune strikes the 
earth with his trident; the ships, the city, and the mountains shake ; 
the earth trembles to its centre ; Pluto starts from his throne, in dread, 
lest the secrets of the infernal regions should be laid open to the views 
of mortals. 

402. The works of Ossian abound with examples of the 
sublime. The subjects of which that author treats, and 
the manner in which he writes, are particularly favourable 
to it. 

Illus. He possesses all the plain and venerable manner of this an- 
cient times. He deals in no superfluous or gaudy ornaments ; "out thro\vs 
forth his images with a rapid conciseness, which enable? *hem tc strike 
the miftd with the greatest force. Among poets of more polished 

19 



212 The Pleasures of Taste, 

times, we are to look for the graces of correct writings for just propor- 
tion of parts, and skilfully conducted narration. In the midst off 
smiling scenery and pleasurable themes, the gay and the beautiful will 
appear, undoubtedly, to more advantage. But amidst the rude scenes 
of nature and of society, such as Ossian describes ; amidst rocks, and 
torrents, and whirlwinds, and battles, dwells the sublime ;. and there it 
naturally associates itself with that grave and solemn spirit, which dis- 
tinguishes the author of Fingal. 

403. Conciseness and simplicity are essential to sublime 
writing. Simplicity is opposed to studied and profuse orna- 
ment ; and conciseness, to superfluous expression. 

Illus. We shall now explain why a defect, either in conciseness or 
simplicity, is hurtful, in a peculiar manner, to the sublime. The 
emotion occasioned in the mind by some great or noble object, raises 
it considerably above its ordinary pitch. A sort of enthusiasm is pro- 
duced, extremely agreeable while it lasts ; but from which the mind is 
tending every moment to fall into its ordinary situation. Now. when- 
an author has brought us, or is attempting to bring us, into this state, 
if he multiplies words unnecessarily, if he decks the sublime object 
which he presents to us, round and round, with glittering ornaments : 
nay, if he throws in any one decoration that sinks in the least below 
the capital. image, that moment he alters the key ; he relaxes the ten- 
sion of the mind; the strength of the feeling is emasculated ; the 
beautiful may remain, but the sublime is gone. 

Example 1. When Julius Ca?sar said to the pilot, who was afraid to 
put to sea with him in a storm, "Quid times? Caesarem vehrs ;" (Ex- 
ample 3. Art. 396.) we are struck with the daring magnanimity of one 
relying with such confidence on his cause and his fortune. These few 
words convey every thing necessary to give us the impression full. 

2. Lucan resolved to amplify and adorn the thought. Observe how 
every thse he twists it round, it departs farther from the sublime, till it 
end at last in tumid declamation. In Rowe's translation the passage 
runs thus: 

But Caesar still superior to distress, 
Fearless, and confident of sure success. 
Thus to the pilot loud :— The seas despise, 
And the vain threatening of the noisy skies : 
Though gods deny thee yon Ausonjan strand, 
Yet go, 1 charge you, go at my command. 
Thy ignorance alone can cause thy fears, 
Thou know'st not what a freight "thy vessel bears : 
Thou know'st not I am he to whom 'tis given 
Never to want the care of watchful heaven. 
Obedient fortune waits my humble thrall, 
And, always ready, comes before I call. 
Let winds, and seas, loud wars at freedom wage, 
And waste upon themselves their empty rage ; 
A stronger, mightier daemon is thy friend, 
Thou and thy bark on Caesar's fate depend. 
Thou stand'st amazed to view this dreadful scene. 
And wonder' st what the God* and Fortime mean: 
But artfully their bounties thus they raise, 
And from my danger arrogate new "praise: 
Amidst the fears of death they bid me live, 
And still enhance what they are sure to give'** 

* Sperne minas, inquit. pelagi, ventoque furenti 
Trade sinum : Italiam. si, coelo auctore, recuses, 
Me.pete. Sola tibi causa hsc est justa timoris 



The Sublime in Writing. 215 

404. On account of the great importance of simplicity 
and conciseness, rhyme, in English verse, if not inconsistent 
with the sublime, is at least very unfavourable to it. The 
constrained elegance of this kind of verse, and studied 
smoothness of the sounds, answering regularly to each oth- 
er at the end of the line, though they be quite consistent with 
gentle emotions, yet weaken the native force of sublimity ; 
besides, that the superfluous words which the poet is often 
obliged to introduce in order to fill up the rhyme, tend far- 
ther to enfeeble it. 

Example. Homer's description of the nod of Jupiter, as shaking the 
heavens,' has been admired in all ages as highly sublime. Literally- 
translated, it runs thus : « He spoke, and bending his sable brows , 
gave the awful nod ; while he shook the celestial locks of his immortal 
bead, all Olympus was shaken. "^ 

Pope translates it thus : 

He spoke ; and awful bends his sable brows. 
Shakes his ambrosial curls..aud gives the nad, 
The stamp of fate, and sanction of a God. 
High heaven with trembling the dread signal took, 
And all Olympus to its eeatre shook. 

Analysis. The image is spread out, and attempted to be beautified ; 
but it is, in truth, weakened. The third line — " The stamp of fate, and 
sanction of a God," is merely repietivs ; and introduced for no other 
reason but to fill up the rhyme ; for it interrupts the description, and 
clogs the image. For the same reason, out of mere compliance with 
the rhyme, Jupiter is represented as shaking his locks before he gives 
the nod ; — " Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod," which is 
trifling, and without meaning. Whereas, in the original, the hair of his 
head shaken, is the effect of his nod, and makes a happy picturesque 
circumstance in the description.* 

405. The boldness, freedom, ancL variety of our blank 
verse, are infinitely more favourable than rhyme can be to 
all kinds of sublime poetry. The fullest proof of this is affor- 
ded by Milton; an author whose genius led him eminently 
to the sublime. The whole first and second books of Para- 
dise Lost, are continued instances of it. 

Example. Take only for an example, the following noted description 
of Satan after his fall, appearing at the head of the infernal hosts : 

Victorem non posse tuum ; quern mimina minquam 
Destituunt; de quo male tune Fortuna meretur 
Cum post vota venit. Medias perrumpe proeellas 
Tutela secure rati Coeli iste fretique 
Non puppis uostrse labor est. Hanc Caesare pressam 
A rluctu defendet onus ; nam proderit und 4 s 
£ste mis : Quid tanta strage paratur 
Ignoras ; quaerit pdagi cceliquetumultn 
^uid praestet fortuna inihi.~-P.Wj-. V. 578. 

* See Webb on the Beauties of Poetry. 



314 llie Pleasures of Taste, 

- - - - He, abova the rest, 
In shape and gesture proudly eminent, 
Stood like a tower : his form had not yet lo>t 
All her original brightness, nor appeared 
Less than archangel ruined, and the excess 
Of glory obscured : as -when the sun, new risen. 
Looks through the horizontal misty air, 
Shorn of his beams ; or, from behind the moon, 
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds 
Qn half the nations, and with fear of change 
Perplexes monarchs. Darken'd so, yet shone 
Above them all, th' archangel. - - - - 

Analysis. Here concur a variety of sources of the sublime ; the- prin- 
cipal object eminently great ; a high superior nature, fallen iudeecL 
but erecting itself against distress ; the grandeur of the principal ob- 
ject heightened, by associating it with so noble an idea, as that of the 
sun suffering an eclipse ; this picture shaded with all those images of 
change and trouble, of darkness and terror, which coincide so finely 
with the sublime emotion ; and the whole expressed in a style and 
versification, easy, natural, and simple, but magnificent. 

406. Simplicity and conciseness are essential to' sublime 
in writing; (Jlrt. 403.J but strength is another necessary 
requisite. The strength of description arises, in a great 
measure, from a simple conciseness j but, it supposes also 
something more ; namely, a proper choice of circumstances 
in the description, so as to exhibit the object in its full and 
most striking point of view. 

Illus. 1. For every object has several faces, so to speak, by which 
it may be presented to us, according to the circumstances with which 
it may be surrounded ; and it will appear eminently sublime, or not, 
in proportion as all these circumstances are happily chosen, ana of a 
sublime kind. Here lies the great art of the writer : and indeed, the 
great difficulty of sublime description. If ihe description be too gen- 
eral, and divested of circumstances, the object appears in a faint light ; 
it makes a feeble impression, or no impression at all, on the reader. 
At the same time, if any trivial or improper circumstances are mingled, 
the whole is degraded. 

2. A storm or tempest, for instance, is a sublime object in nature. 
But, to render it sublime in description, it is not enough, either to give 
us mere general expressions concerning the violence of the tempest, or* 
to describe it? common vulgar effects, in overthrowing trees and hous- 
es. It must be painted with such circumstances as fill the mind wish 
great and awful ideas. 

Example. This is very happily done in the following passage. 

The Father of the Gods his glory shrouds. 

Involved in tempests, and a night of clouds : 

And from the middle darkness flashing out, 

By fits he deals hisfieiy bolts about- 

Earth feels the motions of her angry God. -) 

Her entrails tremble, and her mountains nod, ]>- 

And Hying beasts in forests seek abode. J 

Deep horror seizes every human breast; 

Th- i: pride is humbled, and iheir fears confest ; 

While he from hi-h his rolling thunder throws, 

A&d fj,ves the Mountains with repeated blows ; 



The Sublime in Jrrititlg. £15 

The rocks are from their old foundations rent ; 

The w inds redouble, and the rains augment.* Dryden. 

^nali/sis. Every circunmanec in this noble description is the , 
-uiction of an imagination heated and astonished with the grandeur of 
the object. 

40?'. The sublime depends upon a just selection of cir- 
cumstances ; and great care, in writing, that every circum- 
stance be avoided, which, by bordering in the least upon the 
mean, or even upon the gay or the trifling, might alter the 
tone oi" the emotion. 

Illus. 1. The proper sources of the sublime are to be looked for 
every where in nature. It is not by hunting after tropes and figures, 
and rhetorical assistances, that we can expect to produce it. No : it 
stands clear for the most part of these laboured refinements of art. It 
must come unsought, if it comes at all ; and be the natural offspring of 
a strong imagination. 

Est Deus in nobis ; agitante'calcsinws illo. 
2. Wherever a great and awful object is presented in nature, or a 
very magnanimous and exalted affection of the human mind is uisnlav- 
therite, if you can catch the impression strongly., and exhibit":?. 
warm and glowing, you may draw the sublime. These are its only 
-•roper sources. In judging of any striking beauty in torn posit ion. 
whether it is or is not to be referred to this class, we must attend to the 
nature of the emotion which it raises ; and only if it be of that elevathnr. 
solemn, and awful kind, which distinguishes this feeling, we can »rg- 
n ounce it sublime. 

Scholium. From the account which has been given of the nature cf 
the sublime, it clearly follows, that it is an emotion which can never 
be long 'protracted. The mind by no force of genius, can be kept, for 
any considerable time, so far raised above its common tone ; but will 
of course, relax into its ordinary situation. Neither ae the abilities 
of any human writer sufficient to furnish a long continuation of unin- 
terrupted sublime ideas. The utmost we can expect, is, that this five 
<f imagination should sometimes Hash upon us like lightning f" i0 ni hea- 
ven, and then disappear. In Homer and Milton, this effulgence of 
genius breaks forth more frequently, and with greater lustre than in 
most authors. Shakespeare also rises often into the trtu? sublime. 
But no author whatever is sublime |hroughout. Some, indeed there 
are, who, by a strength and dignity in their conceptions, and a cur- 
rent of high ideas thai ru . through their whole composition, preserve 
the reader's mind always in a tone nearly allied to the sublime • for 
which renson they may, in a limited sense, merit the name of contin- 
ued sublime writers ; and in this class we may justly place Demosthenes 
and Plato. 

408. As for what is called ike sublime Style, it is, for the 
most part, a very bad one ; and has no relation whatever to 
the real sublime. 

* Ipse Pater, media nimboram in node, carusca 
Fuimina mclitor dextva ; quo maxima raotu 
Terra tivmit ; f«£ere ft-ree ; et mona'ia eui^a 
Per rentes humilis stravit pavor : ille flagranti 
Aut Atho. aut Rodopen, am alta C trauma telo 

Dejicit, — Geen 

...... 



2 1 6 TJie Pleasures of Taste. 

Tllus. Persons are apt to imagine that magnificent words, accumu- 
lated epithets, and a certain swelling kind of expression, by rising 
above what is usual or vulgar, contributes to the sublime ; nay, even 
forms this style. Nothing can be more false. In all the instances of 
sublime writing, which we have given, nothing of this kind appears. 

Example. " God said let there be light, and there was light." 

J2?iatysis. This is striking and sublime. But put it into what is com- 
monly called the sublime style : " The rovereign Arbiter of nature, by 
the potent energy of a single word,, commanded the light to exist}' 7 
and, as Boileau has well observed, the style indeed is raised, but the 
thought is fallen. 

Carol. 1. In general in all good writing, the sublime lies in the 
thought, not in the words; and when the thought is truly noble, it will, 
for the most part, clothe itself in a native dignity of language. The 
sublime, indeed, rejects mean, low, or trivial expressions ; but it is 
equally an enemy to such as are turgid. The main secret of being 
sublime, is to say great thiugs in few and plain words. 

2. It will be found to hold, without exception, that the most sublime 
authors are the simplest in their style ; and wherever you find a writer, 
who affects a more than ordinary pomp and parade of words, and is 
always endeavouring to magnify his subject by epithets, there you may 
immediately suspect, that, feeble in sentiment, he is studying to sup- 
port himself by mere expression. 

409. The same unfavourable judgment wc must pass on 
all that laboured apparatus with which some writers intro- 
duce a passage or description, which they intend shall be 
sublime ; calling on their readers to attend, invoking their 
muse, or breaking forth into general, unmeaning exclama- 
tions, concerning the greatness, terribleness, or majesty of 
the object, which they are to describe. 

Example. Addison, iu his Campaign, has fallen into an error of this 
kind, when about to describe the battle of Blenheim : 

But O ! my Muse ! what munbers wilt thoti find 
To sing the furious troops in battie join'd I 
Methinks I hear the drum's tumultuous sound, 
The victor's shouts, and dying groans, confound ; &c. 

.Analysis. Introductions of this kind, are a forced attempt in a writer 
r<> bjkct up himself, and his reader, when he finds his imagination be 
gin to flag. It is like taking artificial spirits in order to supply the 
want of such as arc natural By tins observation, however, it is not 
meant to pass a general censure on Addison's Campaign, which, in 
several places, is far from wanting merit ; and, in particular, the no- 
ted comparison of hi.s hero to the angel who rides in the whirlwind, 
and directs the storm, is a truly sublime image. 

410. The faults opposite to the sublime, are chiefly two ; 
first, the frigid ; and, secondly, the bombast. 

J'lus. 1. The frigid consists in degrading an object, or sentiment, 
which is sublime in itself, by our weak conception of it ; or, by our 
weak 3 low, and childish description of it. This betrays entire absence, 
or ai least ; great poverty of genius. (See Jirl. 204. J 



Beauty. 2.17 



2. Bombast lies in forcing an ordinary or trivial object out of its 
rank, and endeavouring to raise it into the sublime ; oi -. ni attempting 
to exalt a sublime object beyond all natural and reasonable bounds. 
Into this error, which is but too common, writers of genius may some- 
times fall, by unluckily losing sight of the true point of the sublime. 
This is also called fustain, or rant. Shakespeare, a great but incorrect 
genius, is not unexceptionable here. Dryden and Lee. in their, trage- 
dies, abouud with it. * (Set Chapter VllL Book III) 



CHAPTER VI, 



BEAUTY, AND OTHER PLEASURES OF TASTE. 

411. BEAUTY, next to sublimity, affords, beyond doubt, 
the highest pleasure to the imagination. The emotion which 
it raises, is very distinguishable from that of sublimity, It 
is of a calmer kind; more gentle and soothing; it does not 
elevate the mind so much, but produces an agreeable sereni- 
ty. Sublimity raises a feeling too violent to be lasting : the 
pleasure arising from beauty admits of longer continuance. 
It extends also to a much greater variety of objects than 
sublimity; to a variety indeed so great, that the feelings 
which beautiful objects produce, differ considerably, not in 
degree only, but also in kind, from one another. Hence, no 
word in the language is used in a more vague signification 
than beauty. 

Titus. It is applied to almost every external object that pleases the 
eye, or the ear ; to a great number of the graces of writing ; to many 
tlimosinons.of the mind; nay, to several objects of mere abstract sci- 
ence. We talk currently of a beautiful tree, or flower; a beautiful pc- 
em ; a beautiful character ; and a beautiful threorcm in mathematics. 

Scholia 1. Hence we may easily perceive, that, among so great a 
variety of objects, to find out some one quality in which they all agree, 
and which is the foundation of that agreeable sensation they all raise, 
must be a very difficult, if not, more probably, a vain attempt. 

2. Objects, denominated beautiful, are so different, as to please, not 
in virtue of any one quality common to them all, but by means of sev- 
eral different principles in human nature. The agreeahie emotion 
which they all raise, is somewhat of the same nature ; and, therefore, 
lias the common name of beauty given to it; but it is raised by differ- 
ent causes. 

412. Hypotheses, however, have ( been framed by ingenious 
men, for assigning the fundamental quality of beauty in all 
objects. In particular, uniformity amidst variety, has been 
insisted on as this fundamental quality. This accounts, in 
a satisfactory manner, for the beauty of many figures. 



IIS 7 he Pleasures of Taste. 

Hius. But when we endeavour to apply this principle to beautiful 
objects of some other kind, as to colour, for instance, or motion, wc 
shall soon find that it has no place. And even in external figured ob- 
jects, it does not hold that their beauty is in proportion to their mix- 
tore of variety with uniformity ; seeing many please us as highly beau- 
tiful, which have scarcely any variety ; and others, which are various 
to a degree of intricacy. 

Obs. Laying systems of this kind, therefore, aside, we propose to 
give an enumeration of several of those classes of objects in which 
beauty most remarkably appears; and to point out, as far as the limits 
of this work will admit, the separate principles of beauty in each cf 
them. 

413. Colour affords, perhaps, the simplest instance of 
beauty, and therefore the iittest to begin with. Here, "nei- 
ther variety, nor uniformity, nor any other principle, can 
perhaps be assigned, as the foundation of beauty. 

Illus. 1. We can refer it to no other cause except the structure of 
the eye, which determines us to receive certain modifications of the 
rays of light with more pleasure than others. And we see according- 
ly, thai, as the organ of sensation varies in different persons, they have 
their different favourite colours. It is probable, that association of 
ideas has influence, in some cases, on the pleasure which we receive 
from colours. 

Example. Green, for instance, may appear more beautiful, by being 
connected in our ideas with rural prospects and scenes ; white, with in- 
nocence ; blue, with the serenity of the sky. 

Illus 2. Independent of associations of this kind, all that we can 
farther observe concerning colours, is, that those chosen for beauty 
are, generally, delicate rather than glaring. 

Example. Such are those paintings with which nature hath orna- 
mented some of her works, and which art strives in vain to imitate ; 
as the feathers of several kinds of birds, the leaves of flowers, and the 
fine variation of colours exhibited by the sky at the rising and setting 
of the sun. 

CuroL These present to us the highest instances of the beauty of 
colouring; and have accordingly been the favourite subjects of poeti- 
cal description in all countries. 

4 14. From colour we proceed to figure, vhich opens to 
us forms of beauty more complex and diversified. 

415. Regularity of figure first occurs to be noticed as a 
source of beauty. 

Illus. 1. By a regular figure, is meant, one which we perceive to be 
formed according to some certain rule, and not left arbitrary, or loose, 
in the construction of its parts. 

Example. Thus, a circle, a square, a triangle, or a hexagon, pleases 
the eye, by its regularity, as a beautiful figure. 

Analysis. We must not, however, conclude, that all figures please in 
proportion to their regularity ; or that regularity- is the sole, or the 
chief foundation of beauty in fig-ure. On the contrary, a certain 
graceful variety is found to be a much more powerful principle of 
beauty; and is therefore studied a great deal more than regularity, in 
all works thai are designed to please the eye. 



Beauty . £19 

tllus. 2. Regularity appears beautiful to us, chiefly, if not only, on 
account of its suggesting the ideas of Jilness, propriety, and use — qual- 
ities which have always a greater connection with orderly and pro- 
portioned forms, than with those which appear not constructed accord- 
ing to any certain rule. It is clear that Nature, who is undoubtedly 
the most graceful artist, hath, in all her ornamental works, pursued 
variety, with an apparent neglect of regularity. 

Examjjlcs. Cabinets, made after a regular form, in cubes, doors, and 
windows, constructed in the form of parallelograms, with exact 
proportion of parts, by being so formed, please the eye :. the reason is 
obvious ; being works of use, they are, by such figures, the better suit- 
ed to the ends for winch they were designed. But plants, flowers, and 
leaves, are fall of variety and diversity. A straight canal is an insipid 
figure, in comparison of the meanders of rivers. Cones and pyramids 
are beautiful ; but trees, growing in their natural wildness, are infi- 
nitely more beautiful than when trimmed into pyramids and cones; 
as is the fashion, for instance, m almost all gardens and pleasure- 
grounds. The apartments of a house must be regular in their disposi- 
tion, for the conveniency of its inhabitants; but a garden, which is de- 
signed merely for beauty, is exceedingly disgusting, when it has as 
much uniformity and order in its parts as a dwelling-house.* 

416. Hogarth, in his Analysis of Beauty, has observed, 
that figures, bounded by curve lines, are, in general, more 
beautiful than those bounded by straight lines and angles. 

lllus. He pitches upon two lines, on which, according to him, the 
beauty of figure principally depends ; and he has illustrated and sup- 
ported his doctrine, by a surprising number of instances. 

Example 1. The one is the ivaving line, or a curve bending back- 
wards and forwards, somewhat in the form of the letter S. 

Jinalysis. This he calls the line of beauty ; and shows how often it is 
four! in sheils, flowers, and such other ornamental works of nature ; 
and how common it also is in the figures designed by painters and 
sculptors', for the purpose of decoration. 

Example 2. The other line, which he calls the vine of grace, is the 
former waving curve, twisted round some solid body The curling 
worm of a common jack is one of the instances he gives ofit. Twist- 
ed pillars, and twisted horns, also exhibit it. 

jgnalysis. In all the instances which he mentions, variety plainly ap- 
pears to be so material a principle of beauty that he seems not to err 
much when he defines the art of drawing pleasing forms, to be the art 
of varying well For the curve line, so much the favourite of paint- 
ers, derives, according to him, its chief advantage, from its perpetual 
bending and variation from the stiff regularity of the straight line. 

417- Motion furnishes another source of beauty, distinct 
from figure. Motion of itself is pleasing; and bodies in 
motion are, " cseteris paribus," preferred to those in rest. It 
is, however, only gentle motion that belongs to the beautiful ; 
for, when it is very swift, or very forcible, such as that of a 
torrent, it partakes of the sublime, (lllus. 2. Art. 392.) 

* See Lord Karnes's Elements of Criticism, vol. ii, chap. 2h 



£20 The Pleasures of Taste, 



Example 1. The motion of a bird gliding- through the air is ex- 
tremely beautiful; the swiftness with which lightning darts through the 
heavens is magnificent and astonishing. 

Obs. And here it is proper to observe, that the sensations of sublime 
and beautiful are not always distinguished by ver> distant boundaries ; 
but are capable, in several instances, of approaching towards each 
other. 

Example 2. Thus, a smooth running stream is one of the most beau- 
tiful objects in nature : as it swells gradually into a great river, the 
beautiful, by degrees, is lost in the sublime. 

3. A young tree is a beautiful object ; a spreading ancient oak is a 
venerable and a grand one. 

4. The calmness of a fine morning is beautiful; the universal still- 
ness of the evening is highly sublime. 

IIlus. But to return to the beauty of motion, it will be found to hold, 
very generally, that motion in a straight line is not so beautiful as in 
an undulating waving direction ; and motion upwards is, commonly 
too more agreeable than motion downwards. 

Example 5. The easy curling motion of flame and smoUe may be 
instanced, as an object singularly agreeable; and here Mr. Hogarth's 
waving line recurs upon us as a principle of beauty. 

Coral. That artist observes, very ingeniously, that all the common 
and necessary motions for the business of life, are performed by men 
in straight or plain lines; but that all the graceful and ornamental 
movements are made in waving lines ; an observation not unworthy of 
being attended to, by all who study the grace of gesture and action. 

418. Though colour, figure, and motion, be separate prin- 
ciples of beauty ; yet in many beautiful objects they all 
meet, and thereby render the beauty both greater and more 
complex. 

Example 1. Thus, in flowers, trees, and auimals, we are entertained 
at once with the. delicacy of the colour, with the gracefulness of the 
figure, and sometimes also with the motion of the object. 

Analysis. Although each of these produces a separate agreeable sen- 
sation, yet they are of such a similar nature, as readily to mix and 
blend in one general perception of beauty, which we ascribe to the 
whole object as its cause : for beaut}' is always conceived by us as 
something residing in the object which raises the pleasant sensation; 
a sort of glory which dwells upon it, and that invests it. 

Example 2. Perhaps the most complete assemblage of beautiful ob- 
jects that can any where be found, is presented by a rich natural land- 
scape, where there is a sufficient variety of objects : fields in verdure, 
scattered trees and flowers, running water, and animals grazing. 

Analysis. If to these be joined some of the productions of art which 
suit such a scene, as a bridge with arches over a river, smoke rising 
from cottages in the midst of trees, and-the distant view of a fine build- 
ing seen, at the same time, with the rising sun; we then enjoy, in the 
highest perfection, that gay, cheerful, and. placid sensation which char- 
acterises beauty. 

Corol. To have an eye and a taste formed for catching the peculiar 
beauties of such scenes as these, is a necessary requisite for all who at- 
fempt poetical description, 



Beauty, 221 

4i9. The beauty of the human countenance is more com- 
plex than any that we have yet considered. It includes the 
beauty of colour, arising from the delicate shades of the com- 
plexion ; and the beauty of figure, arising from the lines 
which form the different features of the face. But the chief 
beauty of the countenance depends upon a mysterious ex- 
pression, which it conveys, of the qualities of the mind ; of 
good sense, or good humour; of sprightliless, candour, be- 
nevolence, sensibility, or other amiable dispositions. 

Analysis. How it comes to pass, that a certain conformation of fea- 
tures is connected in our idea with certain moral qualities ; whether 
we are taught by instinct, or by experience, to form this connection, 
and to read the mind in the countenance, belongs not to us now to in- 
quire, nor is it indeed easy to resolve. The fact is certain, and ac- 
knowledged, that what gives the human countenance its most distin- 
guishing- beauty, is, what is called its expression ; or an image, which 
it is conceived, to shew of internal moral dispositions. 

Scholia 1. This leads us to observe, that there are certain qualities 
of a mind, which, whether expressed in the countenance, or by words, 
or by actions, always raise in us a feeling similar to that of beauty. 

2. There are two great classes of moral qualities; one is of the high 
and the great virtues, which require extraordinary efforts, and turn 
upon dangers and sufferings ; as heroism, magnanimity, contempt of 
pleasures, and contempt of death. These excite in the spectator an 
emotion of sublimity and grandeur. (Illrn. Art. 396.) 

3. The other class is generally of the social virtues, and such as are 
of a softer and gentler kind ; as compassion, mildness, friendship, 
and generosity. These raise in the beholder a sensation of pleasure, 
so much akin to that produced by beautiful external objects, that, 
though of a more dignified nature, it may, without impropriety, be 
classed under the same head. 

420. A species of beauty, distinct from any that we have 
yet mentioned, arises from design, or art ; or, in other words, 
from the perception of means being adapted to an end; or 
the parts of any thing being well fitted to answer the design 
of the whole. 

Illus. When, in considering the structure of a tree, or a plant, we 
observe how all the parts, the roots, the stem, the bark, and the leaves, 
are suited to the growth and nutriment of the whole ; much more 
when we survey all the parts and members of a living animal; or 
when we examine any of the curious works of art; such ns a clock, 
a ship, or any nice machine ; the pleasure we have in the survey 
is wholly founded cmj this sense of beauty. It is altogether differ- 
ent from the perception of beauty produced by colour, figure, variety, 
or any of the causes formerly mentioned. 

Analysis. When you look at a watch, for instance, the case of it, if 
finely engraved, and of curious workmanship, strikes you as beautiful 
in the former sense ; bright colour, exquisite polish, figures finely rais- 
ed and turned. But when you examine the spring and the wheels, and 
examine the beauty of the internal machinery ; your pleasure then 



222 The Pleasures of Tasle. 

arises wholly from the view of that admirable art with which so manv 
various and complicated parts are made to unite for one purpose. 

421. This sense of beauty in fitness and design, has an 
extensive influence over many of our ideas. It is the foun- 
dation of the beauty which we discover in the proportion of 
doors, windows, arches, pillars, and all the orders of archi- 
tecture. 

• Illus. 1. Let the ornaments of a building be ever so fine and elegant 
in themselves, yet if they interfere with this sense of fitness and design* 
they lose their beauty, and hurt the eye like disagreeable objects. 

2. Twisted columns, for instance, are undoubtedly ornamental ; but 
as they have an appearance of weakness, they always displease when 
they are made use of to support any part of a building that is massy, 
and that seems to require a more substantial prop. 

3. We cannot look upon any work whatever, without being led, by 
a natural association of ideas, to think of its end and design, and of 
course to examine the propriety of its parts, in relation to this design 
and end. When their propriety is clearly discerned, the work seems 
always to have some beauty ; but when there is a total want of pro- 
priety, it never fails of appearing deformed. 

4. Our sense of fiJness and design, therefore, is so powerful, and 
"holds so high a rank among our perceptions, as to regulate in a great 
measure, our other ideas of beauty. This observation is of the utmost 
importance, to all who study composition. For in an epic poem, a 
history, an oration, or auy work of genius, we always require, as we do 
in other works, a fitness, or adjustment ef means, to the end which the 
author is supposed to have in view. Let his descriptions.be ever so 
rich, or his figures ever so elegant, yet if they are out of place, if they 
are not proper parts of that whole, if they suit not the main design, 
they lose all their beauty ; nay, from beauties they are converted into 
deformities. Such power has our sense of fitness and congruity, to 
produce a total transformation of an object whose appearance other- 
wise would have bc-rvn beautiful. 

422. After having mentioned so many various species of 
beauty, it now only remains to take notice of beauty, as it 
is applied to writing or discourse ; a term commonly used 
in a sense altogether loose and undetermined. For it is 
applied to all that pleases, either in style or in sentiment, 
from whatever principle that pleasure flows ; and a beauti- 
ful poem or oration means, in common language, no other 

than a good one, or one well composed. 

Illus. 1. In this sense, it is plain, the word is altogether indefinite, 
and points at no particular species or kind of beauty. 

2. There is, however, another sense, somewhat more definite, in 
which beauty of writing characterises a particular manner ; when it 
is used to signify a certain grace and amenity, in the turn either of 
style or sentiment, for which some authors have been peculiarly distin- 
guished . 

3. In this sense, it denotes a manner neither remarkably sublime, 
nor vehemently passionate, nor uncommonly sparkling; but such as 



Beauty, £25 

raises in the reader an emotion of the gentle placid kind, similar to 
what is raised by the contemplation of beautiful objects in nature ; 
which neither lifts the mind very high, nor agitates it very much, but 
diffuses over the imagination an agreeable and pleasing serenity. 

Scholia 1. Addison is a writer altogether of this character ; and is 
one of the most proper and precise examples that can be given of it. 
Fenelon, the author of the Adventures of Telemachus, may be given 
as another example. Virgil too, though very capable of rising on oc- 
casions into the sublime, yet, in his general manner, is distinguished by 
the character of beauty and grace, rather than of sublimity. Among 
orators, Cicero has more of the beautiful than Demosthenes, whose 
genius led him wholly towards vehemence and strength. 

2. This much it is sufficient to have said upon the subject of beauty. 
We have traced it through a variety of forms ; because next to sub- 
limity, it is the most copious source of the pleasures of taste ; and be- 
cause the consideration of the different appearances, and principles of 
beauty, tends to the improvement of taste in many subjects, 

3. But it is not only by appearing under the forms of sublime or 
beautiful, that objects delight the imagination. From several other 
principles, also, they derive their power of giving it pleasure. 

423. Novelty, for instance, has been mentioned by Ad- 
dison, by Karnes, and by every writer on this subject. An 
object that has no merit to recommend it, except its being 
uncommon or new, by means of this quality alone, produces 
in the mind a vivid and an agreeable emotion. Hence that 
passion of curiosity, which prevails so generally among 
mankind. 

Illus. Objects and ideas which have been long familiar, make too 
faint an impression to give an agreeable exercise to our faculties. 
New and strange objects rouse the mind from its dormant state, by 
giving it a quick and pleasing impulse. Hence, in a great measure, 
the entertainmeut afforded us by fiction and romance. The emotion 
raised by novelty is of a more lively and pungent nature than that 
produced by beauty ; but much shorter in its continuance. For if the 
object have in itself no charms to hold our attention, the shining gloss 
thrown upon it by novelty soon wears off. 

424. Besides novelty, imitation is another source of 
pleasure to taste. This gives rise to what are termed, the 
secondary 'pleasures of imagination ; which form, doubt- 
less, a very extensive class. 

Illus. For all imitation affords some pleasure; not only the imitation 
of beautiful or great objects, by recalling the original ideas of beauty 
or grandeur which such objects themselves exhibited ; but even ob- 
jects which have neither beauty nor, grandeur, nay, some which are 
terrible or deformed, please us in a secondary or represented view. 

425. The pleasures of melody and harmony belong also 
to taste. There is no agreeable sensation we receive either 
from beauty or sublimity, but what is capable of being 
heightened by the power of musical sound. Hence the de- 

20 



224 The Pleasures of Taste. 

light of poetical numbers ; and even of the more concealed 
and looser measures of prose. 

426. TVit, humour, and ridicule, likewise open a variety 
to pleasures of taste, quite distinct from any that we have 
yet considered. 

427. Wit is a quality of certain thoughts and expres- 
sions ; the term is never applied to an action, nor to a pas- 
sion ; far less to an external object.* 

Illus. 1. Wit is a term appropriated to such thoughts and expres- 
sions as are ludicrous, and also occasion some degree of surprise by 
their singularity. 

2. Wit also, in a figurative sense, expresses a talent for inventing 
ludicrous thoughts or expressions : we say commonly a willy man, or 
a man of wit. Hudibras is a man of wit ; Falstaff is a witty man : 
Swift is both. 

3. Wit, in its proper sense, as explained above, is distinguishable in- 
to two kinds ; wit in the thought, and wit in the words or expressions. 

4. Again : wit in the thought, is of two kinds ; ludicrous images, and 
ludicrous combinations, that have little or no natural relation. 

5. Ludicrous images, which surprise by their singularity, are fabri- 
cated by the imagination ; and ludicrous combinations are such an as- 
semblage of ideas or of things, as by distant and fanciful relations^ 
surprise, because they are unexpected. 

428. Humour. Nothing just or proper is denominated 
humour; nor any singularity of character, words, or actions 
that is valued or respected. 

Illus. 1. When we attend to the character of an humourist, we find 
that it arises from circumstances both risible and improper, and there- 
fore that it lessens the man in cur esteem, and makes him in some 
measure ridiculous. 

2. A ludicrous wriler is one who insists upon ludicrous subjects with 
the professed purpose to make his readers laugh ; a writer of humour 
ia one, who, affecting to be grave and serious, paints his subjects in 
such colours as to provoke mirth and laughter. 

Example. Swift and Fontaine were humourists in character, and 
their writings are full of humour. Arbuthnot outdoes them in drollery 
and humourous painting ; but he who should say that Addison was an 
humourist in character, would be suspected of mistaking horse ches» 
nuts for chesnut horses. 

429. Ridicule. A visible object preduceth an emotion 
of laughter merely, a ridiculous object is improper as well a3 
risible, and produceth a mixed emotion, which is vented by 
a laugh of derision or scorn.t - 

Obs. Burlesque is a great engine of ridicule : it is distinguishable in- 
to the burlesque that excites laughter merely, and the burlesque that 
provokes derision or ridicule. 

Examples. Virgil Travestie, and the Lutrin, are compositions which 

* Karnes' Essays, chap. 13. vol I. 

+ Arist. Poet. ch. 3. Cicero de Oratore, L 2, ^uirctilian, lib. 6. caji. 3. 



Beauty, 225 

come nnder this article. The Rape of the Lock is not strictly bur- 
lesque, but an heroic-comical poem. Addison's Spectator* on the Fan 
is extremely gay and ludicrous. 

Scholium. This singular advantage writing and discourse possess, 
that, in every point of view, they encompass a large and rich field, in 
respect to the pleasures of taste"; and have power to exhibit, in great 
perfection, not a single set of objects only, but almost the whole of 
those which give pleasure to taste and imagination : whether that 
pleasure arise from sublimity, from beauty in its different forms, from 
design and art, from moral sentiment, from novelty, from harmony, 
from wit, humour, and ridicule. To whichsoever of these the peculiar 
bent of a person's taste lies, from some writer or other he has it al- 
ways in his power to receive the gratification of his taste. 

430. The high power which eloquence and poetry pos- 
sess, of supplying taste ant! imagination with an extensive 
circle of pleasures, they derive altogether from their having 
a greater capacity of initiation and description than is pos- 
sessed by any other art. 

Ill us. 1. Of all the means which human ingenuity has contrived for 
recalling the images of real objects, and awakening, by representa- 
tion, similar emotions to Those which are raised by the original, none 
is so full and extensive as that which is executed by words and writing. 
Through the assistance of this happy invention, there is nothing, either 
in the natural or in the moral world that cannot be represented and 
set before the mind, in colours very strong and lively. 

Corol. Hence it is usual among critical writers to speak of discourse 
as the chief of all the imitative or mimical arts ; they compare it with 
painting and with sculpture, and in many respects prefer it justly be- 
fore them. 

Illus. 2. Imitation is performed by means of something that has a 
natural likeness and resemblance to the thing imitated ; and of conse- 
quence is understood by all : statues and pictures, are examples of 
likenesses. 

2. Description, again, is the raising in the mind the conception of an 
object by means of some arbitrary or instituted symbols, understood 
only by those who agree in the institution of them ; such are words 
and writing. 

3. Wort's, though copies, (Art. 432.) have no natural resemblance 
to the ideas or objects which they are employed to signify ; but a 
statue or picture has a natural likeness to the original. And therefore 
imitation and description differ considerably in their nature from each 
other. 

431. As far, indeed, as the poet introduces into his work 
persons actually speaking ; and, by the words which he puts 
into their mouths, represents the discourse which they might 
be supposed to hold ; so far his art may more accurately be 
called imitative ; and this is the case in all dramatic com- 
position. But, in narrative or descriptive works, it can with 
no propriety be called so. 

* Nb. 102. 



226 The Pleasures of Taste. — Beauty, 

lllus. 1. Who, for instance, would call Virgil's description of a tem- 
pest, in the first JEneid, an imitation of a storm ? li we heard of the 
imitation of a battle we might naturally think of some sham-fight, or 
representation of a battle on the stage, but could never apprehend that 
it meant one of Homer's descriptions in the Iliad. 

2. But imitation and description agree* in their principal effect, of re- 
calling, by external signs, the ideas of things which they do not see. 
But though in this they coincide, yet it should not be forgotten, that 
the terms themselves are not synonymous ; that they import different 
means of effecting the same end ; and of course make different impres- 
sions on the mind. 

Scholium. Whether we consider poetry in particular, and discourse in 
general, as imitative or descriptive ; it is evident, that their whole pow- 
er in recalling the impressions of real objects, is derived from the sig~ 
nificancy, the choice and arrangement- of words. Their excellency 
flows altogether from these sources. Having shewn how the source 
may be preserved pure, we shall, in the next book, enter upon style 
and eloquence in their most extensive signification 



®(&®E> ¥1< 



THE GENERAL CHARACTERS OF STYLE. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE DIFFUSE AND CONCISE STYLES. 

432. WORDS being the copies of our ideas, there must 
always be a very intimate connection between the manner 
in which we employ words, and our manner of thinking. 
From the peculiarity of thought and expression which be- 
longs to every writer, there is a certain character imprinted 
on his style, which may be denominated his manner ; com- 
monly expressed by such general terms as strong, weak, dry, 
simple, affected, or the like. 

Ill us. These distinctions carry, in general, some reference to an au- 
thor's manner of thinking, but refer chiefly to his mode of expression. 
They arise from the whole tenor of his language ; and comprehend 
the effect produced by all those parts of style which we have already 
considered ; the choice which he makes of single words ; his arrange- 
ment of these in sentences ; the degree of h isprecision ; his embellish- 
ment, by means of musical cadence, figures, or other arts of speech ; 
and, finally, the cultivation of his genius and taste. Of such general 
characters of style, therefore, it remains now to speak, as the result of 
those elementary parts of which we have hitherto treated. 

433. That different subjects require to be treated of, in 
ditferent sorts of style, is a position so obvious, that it needs 
no illustration. Every one sees that treatises of philosophy, 
for instance, ought not to be composed in the same style 
with orations. Every one sees also, that different parts of 
the same composition require a variation in the style and 
manner. In a sermon, or any harangue, as shall be shewn 
hereafter, the application or peroration admits more orna- 
ment, and requires more warmth, than the didactic part. 

Obs. But what we mean at present to remark is. that,, amidst this va- 
2"ietv, we still expect to find, in the compositions of anv one man, sdn>e 
20* 



228 The general Characters of Style. 

degree of uniformity or consistency with himself in manner ; we expect 
to find impressed on all his writings, some predominant character of 
style which shall be suited to his particular genius, and shall mark the 
turn of his mind. 

Example. The orations in Livy differ much in style, as they ought to 
do, from the rest of his history. The same is the case with those in 
Tacitus. Yet both in L ivy's orations, and in those of Tacitus, we are 
able clearly to trace the distinguishing manner of each historian ; the 
magnificent fullness of the one, and the sententious conciseness of the 
other. 

Corol. Wherever there is real and native genius, it gives a determin- 
ation to one kind of style rather than another. Where nothing of this 
appears ; where there is no marked nor peculiar character in the com- 
positions of any author, we are apt to infer, and not without reason, 
that he is a vulgar and trivial author, who writes from imitation, and 
not from the impulse of original genius. As the most celebrated 
painters are known by their hand, so the best and most original wri- 
ters are known and distinguished, throughout all their works, by their 
style and peculiar manner. This will be found to hold almost without 
exception. 

434. One of the first and most obvious distinctions of the 
different kinds of style, is what arises from an author's 
spreading out his thoughts more or less. This distinction 
forms what are called, the diffuse and the concise styles. 

Hlus. 1. A concise writer compresses his thoughts into the fewest pos' 
.-.ible words ; he seeks to employ none but such as are most expressive; 
he lops off, as redundant, every expression which does not add some- 
thing material to the sense. 

Ornament he does not reject ; he may be lively and figured ; but his 
srnament is intended for the sake of force rather than grace. 

He never gives you the same thought twice. He places it in the 
light which appears to him the most striking ; but if you do not appre- 
hend it well in that light, you need not expect to find it in any other. 

His sentences are arranged with compactness and strength, rather 
lhan with cadence and harmony. The utmost precision is studied in 
them ; and they are commonly designed to suggest more to the read- 
er's imagination than they directly express. 

Hlus. 2. A diffuse writer unfolds his thought fully. He places it in 
a variety of lights, and gives the reader every possible assistance for 
understanding it completely. He is not very careful to express it at 
first in its full strength ; because be is to repeat the impression ; and 
what he wants in strength he proposes to supply by copiousness. 

Writers of this character generally love magnificence and amplifica- 
tion. Their periods naturally run out into some length, and having 
room for ornament of every kind, they admit it freely. 

Scholium. Each of these manners has its peculiar advantages ; and 
each becomes faulty when carried to the extreme. The extreme of con- 
ciseness becomes abrupt and obscure ; it is apt also to lead into a style 
too pointed, and bordering on the epigrammatic. The extreme of dif- 
fuseness becomes weak and languid, and tires the reader. However, 
to one or other of these two manners, a writer may lean according as 
his genius prompts him : and under the general character of a concise, 
or of a more open and diffuse style, he may possess much beauty in his 
composition. 



The Diffuse and Concise Styles, 229 

435. For illustrations of these general characters, we can 
only refer to the writers who are examples of them. It is 
not so much from detached passages, such as we have been 
quoting as examples in the foregoing pages of this grammar, 
as from the current of an author's style, that we are to col- 
lect the idea of a formed manner of writing. 

Ilius. 1. Two of the most remarkable examples of conciseness, car- 
vied as far as propriety will allow, perhaps in some cases farther, are 
Tacitus, the Historian, and the President Montesquieu in " L'Esprit de 
Loix." Aristotle, too, holds an eminent rank among didactic writers 
for his brevity. Perhaps no writer in the world was ever so frugal of 
his words as Aristotle; but this frugality of expression frequently dark- 
ens his meaning. 

2. Of a beautiful and magnificent diffuseness, Cicero is, beyond 
doubt, the most illustrious instance that can be given. Addison, also, 
and Sir William Temple come, in some degree, under this class. 

436. In judging when it is proper to lean to the concise, 
and when to the diffuse manner, we must be directed by the 
nature of the composition. Discourses that are to be spoken 
require a more copious style than books that are to be read. 

Illus. When the whole meaning must be caught from the mouth of 
the speaker, without the advantage which books afford of pausing at 
pleasure, and reviewing what appears obscure, great conciseness is al- 
ways to be avoided. We should never presume too much on the quick- 
ness of our hearer's understanding ; but our style ought to be such, 
that the bulk of men can go along with us easily, and without effort. 

Corol. A flowing copious style, therefore, is required in all public 
speakers ; guarding, at the same time, against such a degree of diffu- 
sion as renders ihem languid and tiresome ; which will always prove 
to be the case, when they inculcate too much, and present the same 
thought under too many different views. 

437. In written compositions, a certain degree of concise- 
ness possesses great advantages. It is more lively ; keeps 
up attention ; makes a brisker and stronger impression ; 
and gratifies the mind by supplying more exercise to a 
reader's own thought. A sentiment, which, expressed dif- 
fusely, will barely be admitted to be just, will, when ex- 
pressed consisely, be admired as spirited. Description, 
when we want to have it vivid and animated, should be in a 
concise strain. 

Illus. 1. This is different from the common opinion ; most persons 
being ready to suppose, that upon description a writer may dwell 
more safely than upon other topics, and that, by a full and extended 
style, it is rendered more rich and expressive. On the contrary, a dif- 
fuse manner generally weakens description. Any redundant words or 
circumstances encumber the fancy, and make the object that we pre- 
sent to it, appear confused and indistinct. 

2. Accordingly, the most masterly describers, Homer, Tacitus 
Milton, arc almost always concise in their descriptions, They shew' 



-"■ , 



230 The general Characters ef Style. 

us more of an object at one glance, than a feeble diffuse writer c*n; 
shew, by turning it round and exhibiting it in a variety of lights. 

Corol. The strength and vivacity of description, whether in prose or 
poetry, depend much more upon the happy choice of a few striking 
circumstances, than upon their mutiplicity and variety. 

438. Addresses to the passions, likewise, ought to be in 
the concise, rather than the diffuse manner. In these it is 
dangerous to be diffuse, because it is very difficult to sup- 
port proper warmth for any length of time. When we be- 
come prolix, we are always in hazard of cooling the reader. 
The fancy and the feelings of the heart too, run fast ; and 
if once we can put them in motion, they supply many par- 
ticulars to greater advantage than an author can display 
them. The case is different when we address ourselves to 
the understanding: as for example in all matters of reason- 
ing, explication, and instruction. 

06s. In these cases, that most elegant rhetorician, Dr. Blair, would 
prefer a more free and diffuse manner. When you are to strike the 
fancy, or to move the heart, be concise ; when you are to inform the 
understanding, which moves more slowly, and requires the assistance 
of a guide, it is better to be, full. Historical narration may be beauti- 
ful, either in a concise or a diffuse manner, according to the writer's 
genius. Livy and Herodotus are diffuse ; Thucydides and Sallust are 
succinct ; yet all of them are agreeable. 

439. A diffuse style generally abounds in long periods ; 
and a concise writer, it is certain, will often employ short 
sentences. 

Obs. But of long and short sentences, we had occasion, formerly to 
treat, under the head of " The Construction of Periods." (See Chapter 
I. and the Harmony of Periods, Chapter IX. Book HI.) 

440. The nervous and the feeble are generally held to be 
characters of style, of the same import with the" concise and 
the diffuse. They do indeed very often coincide. Diffuse 
writers have, for "the most part, some degree of feebleness ; 
and nervous writers will generally be inclined to a concise 
mode of expression. 

Illus. 1. This, however, doss not always hold ; and there are Instan- 
ces of writers, who, in the midst of a full and ample style, have main- 
tained a great degree of strength. Their style may have many faults. 
It may be unequal, incorrect, and redundant, but withal, for force and 
expressiveness, uncommonly distinguished. On every subject, they 
will multiply words with an overflowing copiousness ; but they ever 
pour forth a torrent of forcible ideas and significant expressions. 

2. Indeed, the foundations of a nervous or a weak style are laid in 
an author's manner of thinking. If he conceives an object vigorously, 
he will express it with energy : but if hf has only an indistinct view of 
his subject ; if his ideas \ • < ;;ose and wavering : if his genius be such, 
or, at the time of his writing, so carelessly exerted, that he has no firm 



The Diffuse and Concise Styles. 23 i 

imid of the conception which he would communicate to us, the marks 
of all this will clearly appear in his style. Several unmeaning words 
and loose epithets will be found in his composition ; his expressions 
will be vague and general ; his arrangement indistinct and feeble ; we 
shall conceive a portion of his meaning, but our conception will be faint. 
3. Whereas a nervous writer, whether he employs an extended or a 
concise style, gives us always a strong impression of his meaning ; 
his miad is full of his subject, and his words are all expressive ; every 
phrase and every figure which he uses, tends to render the picture, 
which he would set before us, more lively and complete. . 

441. Under the head of diffuse and concise style, (Art. 
436. and 437.) we have shewn that an author might lean 
either to the one or to the other, and yet be beautiful. This 
is not the case with respect to the nervous and the feeble. 
Every author, in every composition, ought to study to ex- 
press himself with some strength, and in proportion as he 
approaches to the feeble, he becomes a bad writer. 

Obs. In all kinds of writing, however, the same degree of strength is 
not demanded. But the more grave and weighty any composition is, 
the more should a character of strength predominate in the style. 

Carol. Hence, in history, philosophy, and solemn discourses, it is 
chiefly expected. One of the most complete models of a nervous style, 
is Demosthenes in his orations. 

442. Every good quality in style, when pursued too far, 
has an extreme, to which it becomes faulty, and this holds 
of the nervous style as well as of other styles. Too great a 
study of strength, to the neglect of other qualities of style, 
is found to betray writers into a harsh manner. 

film. Harshness arises from unusual words, from forced inversions 
in the construction of a sentence, and too much neglect of smoothness 
and ease. This is reckoned the fault of some of our earliest classics 
in the English language ; writers who, from the nerves and strength 
which they have displayed, are, to this day, eminent for that quality 
in slyle. But the language in their hands was exceedingly different 
from what it is now, and was indeed entirely formed upon the idiom 
and construction of the Latin, in the arrangement of sentences. The 
present form which the language has assumed, has, in some measure, 
sacrificed the study of strength to that of perspicuity and ease. Our 
arrangement of words has become less forcible, perhaps, but more 
plain and natural : and this is now understood to be the genius of our 
language. 

443. The restoration of King Charles II. seems to be the 
sera of the formation of our present style. Lord Clarendon 
was one of the first who laid aside those frequent inversions 
which prevailed among writers of the former age. After 
him, Sir William Temple polished the language still more. 
But Dryden is the author, who, by the number and reputa- 
tion of his works, formed it more than any of his predeces- 
sors or contemporaries, into its present state. 



232 The general Characters of Style. 

Illus. 1. Dryden began to write at the Restoration, and continued 
long an author both in poetry and prose. He bad made the language 
his study ; and though he wrote hastily, and often incorrectly, though 
his style is not free from fauits, yet there is a richness in bis diction, a 
copiousness, ease, and variety in his expression, which has not been 
surpassed by any who have come after him * 

2. Since his time, considerable attention has been paid to purity and 
elegance of style; but it is elegance rather than strength, that forms 
the distinguishing quality of most of the good English writers. Some 
of them compose in a more manly and nervous manner than others ; 
but, whether it be from the genius of our language, or from whatever 
other cause, it appears, that we are far from the strength ei several of 
the Greek and Roman authors. 



CHAPTER II. 

01 THE DRY, PLAIN, NEAT, ELEGANT, AND FLOWERY STYLE. 

444. HITHERTO we have considered style under those 
characters that respect its expressiveness of an author's 
meaning. Let us now proceed to consider it in another 
view, with respect to the degree of ornament employed to 
beautify it. Here, the style of different authors seems to 
rise, in the following gradation : a dry, a plain, a neat, 
an elegant, and a flowery manner. Of each of these in 
its order. 

445. First, a dry manner. This excludes ornament of 
every kind. Content with being understood, it has not the 
least aim to please, either the fancy or the ear. This is tol- 
erable only in pure didactic writing ; and even there, to 
make us bear it, great weight and solidity of matter are re- 
quisite ; and entire perspicuity of language. 

Illus. 1. Aristotle is the most complete example of a dry style. 
Ivever, perhaps, •,vas there any author who adhered so rigidly to the 
strictness of a didactic manner throughout all his writings, and con- 
veyed so much instruction, without the least approach to ornament. 
With the most profound genius and extensive views, he writes, says Dr. 
Blair, like a pure intelligence, who addresses himself solely to the un- 
derstanding, without making any use of the channel of the imagination. 

2. But this is a manner which deserves not to be imitated. For, al- 

* Dr. Johnson, in his life of Dryden, gives the following 1 character of his prose style : 
" His pit faces have not the formality of a settled style, in which the first half of the 
sentence K trays the other. The clauses ait never balanced, nor the periods modell- 
ed ; every word seems to drop by chance, though it falls into its proper place. No- 
thing is eold or languid, the whole is airy, animated, and vigorous ; what is little, is 
gay ; what is great, is splendid. Though all is easy, nothing is feeble ; though all 
seems careless, inert is nothing harsh ; and though, sinee his earlier works,- more tluUi 
a century has passed; they hare nothing yet uncouth or obsolete." 



The dry, plain, neat, and elegant Styles, 2&3 

Ihough the goodness of the matter- may compensate the dryness or 
harshness of the style, yet is that dryness a considerable defect ; as it 
fatigues attention, and conveys our sentiments, with disadvantage, to 
the reader or hearer. 

446. A plain style rises one degree above a dry style, 
A writer of this character employs very little ornament of 
any kind, and rests almost entirely upon his sense. But, if 
he is at no pains to engage us by the employment of figures, 
musical arrangement, or any other art of writing, he studies, 
however, to avoid disgusting us like a dry and a harsh wri- 
ter. Besides perspicuity, he pursues propriety, purity, and 
precision, in his language; which form one degree, and no 
inconsiderable one, of beauty. Liveliness too, and force, 
may be consistent with a very plain style : and therefore, 
such an author, if his sentiments be good, may be abundant- 
ly agreeable. 

Obs. The difference between a dry and plain writer, is, that the for- 
mer is incapable of ornament, and seems not to know what it is ; the 
latter seeks not after it. He gives us his meaning in good language, 
distinct and pure ; he gives himself no farther trouble about ornament ; 
either, because he thinks it unnecessary to his subject; or because his 
genius does not lead him to delight in it ; or, because it leads him to 
despise it. 

44r. What is called a neat style comes next in order ,* 
and here we have arrived in the region of ornament ; but 
that ornament not of the highest or most sparkling kind. 

Illus. 1. A writer of this character shews, that he does not despise 
the beauty of language. It is an object of his attention. But his at- 
tention is shewn in the choice of words, and in a graceful collocation 
of them ; rather than in any high efforts of imagination, or eloquence. 

2. His sentences are always clean, and free from the incumbrance 
of superfluous words ; of a moderate length ; rather inclining to brev- 
ity, than a swelling structure ; closing with propriety ; without any 
appendages, or adjections dragging after the proper close. 

3. His cadence is varied ; but not of the studied musical kind. 

4. His figures, if he uses any, are short and correct ; rather than 
bold and glowing. 

Scholia 1. Such a style as this may be attained by a writer who has 
no great powers of fancy or genius ; merely by industry and careful 
attention to the rules of writing, and it is a style always agreeable. 

2. It imprints a character of moderate elevation on our composition, 
and carries a decent degree of ornament, which is not unsuitable to 
any subject whatever. 

3. A familiar letter, or a law paper, on the dryest subject, may be 
written with neatness ; and a sermon or a philosophical treatise, in a 
neat sfyle, will be read with pleasure. 

448. An elegant style is a character expressing a high- 
er degree of ornament than a neat one y and, indeed, is the 



£34 The general Characters of Style. 

term usually applied to style, when possessing all the virtues 
of ornament, without any of its excesses or defects. 

Illus. 1. From what has been formerly delivered, it will easily be 
understood, that complete elegance implies great perspicuity and pro- 
priety ; purity in the choice of words, and care and dexterity in their 
harmonious and happy arrangement. It implies, farther, the grace 
and beauty of imagination spread over style, as far as tbe subject ad- 
mits display ; and all the illustration which figurative language adds, 
when properly employed. 

2. In a word, an elegant writer is one who pleases the fancy and 
the ear, while he informs the understanding ; and who gives us his 
ideas clothed with all the beauty of expression, but not overcharged 
with any of its misplaced finery* 

449. When the ornaments, applied to a style, are too rich 
and gaudy in proportion to the subject ; when they return 
upon us too fast, and strike us either with a dazzling lustre, 
or a false brilliancy, this forms what is called a florid 
style ; a term commonly used to signify the excess of or- 
nament. 

Obs. In a young composer this is very pardonable. Perhaps it is 
even a promising symptom in young people, that their style should in- 
cline to the florid and luxuriant. Much of it will be diminished by 
years ; much will be corrected by ripening judgment ; some of it, by 
the mere practice of composition, will be worn away. Let there be, 
at first, only sufficient matter that can bear some pruning and lopping 
off. A.t this time of life, let genius be bold and inventive, and pride 
itself in its efforts, though these should not, as yet, be correct. Lux- 
uriancy can easily be cured ; but for barrenness there is no remedy .f 

450. But, although the florid style may be allowed to 
youth, in their first essays, it must not receive the same in- 
dulgence from writers of maturer years. It is to be expect- 
ed, that judgment, as it ripens, should chasten imagination, 
and reject, as juvenile, all such ornaments as are redundant, 
unsuitable to the subject, or not conducive to its illustration. 

Obs. I. Nothing can be more contemptible than that tinsel splendour 
of language, which some writers perpetually affect. It were well, if 
this could be ascribed to the real overflowing of a rich imagination. 
We should then have something to amuse us, at least, if we found little 
to instruct us. But the worst is, that with those frothy writers, it is a 
luxuriancy of words, not of fancy. 

2. We see a laboured attempt in these writers, to rise to a splen- 
dour of composition, of which they have formed to themselves some 

* In this class, therefore, we place only the first-rate writers in the language ; such 
as Addison, Dryden, Pope. Temple, Bolingbroke, Atterbury, Campbell. Karnes. Dr. 
Blair, Dougald Stewart, and a few more: writers who differ widely from o;;e another 
in many of the attributes of style, but whom we now class together ur.der the denom- 
ination of elegant, as. in the scale of ornament, possessing nearly the s.imt place. 

•f- Multum inde decuque?u anni, multum ratio limabit, aliquid velut usu ipso deter- 
eter ; sit modo und-.- ^('idl possit quid e^ exsculpi. Audeat haec setas plura, et inveni- 
at et inventis gaudeat ; sint licet ilia non satis interim sicca et severa. Facile reme- 
dium est ubertatis ; sterilia nullo labore vincuntur.— Quineulian. 



The simple, affected, and vehement Styles, £35 

loose idea ; but having no strength of genius for attaining it, they en- 
deavour to supply the defect by poetical words, by cold exclamations^ 
by common-place figures, and every thing .that has the appearance of 
pomp and magnificence. 

3. It has escaped these writers, that sobriety in ornament is one 
great secret for rendering it pleasing ; and that, without a foundation 
of good sense and solid thought, the most florid style is but a childish 
imposition on the public. The public, however, are but too apt to be 
so imposed on ; at least the mob of readers, who are very ready to be 
caught, at first, with whatever is dazzling and gaudy, whether it be 
served up in the shape of two-pennies' worth of politics, or crude and 
infectious romances at a heavier charge. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SIMPLE, AFFECTED, AND VEHEMENT STALES. 

451. WE are now to treat of style under another charac- 
ter, one of great importance in writing, and which requires 
to be accurately examined ; that of simplicity, or a natural 
style, as distinguished from affectation, 

Obs. Simplicity, applied to writing, is a term very frequently used ; 
but like many other critical terms, often used loosely and without pre- 
cision. This has been owing chiefly to the different meanings given to 
the word simplicity, which, therefore, it will be necessary here to dis- 
tinguish ; and to shew in what sense it is a proper attribute of style. 
We may remark four different acceptations in which it is taken. 

452. The first is, simplicity of composition, as opposed to 
loo great a variety of parts. Horace's precept refers to this : 

Denique sit quod vis simplex duntaxnt et unum * 

Jllus. This is the simplicity of plan in a tragedy, as distinguished 
from double plots, and crowded incidents ; the simplicity of the Iliad, 
or iEneid, in opposition to the digressions of Lucan, and the scattered 
tales of Ariosto ; the simplicity of Grecian architecture, in opposition 
to the irregular variety of the Gothic. In this sense, simplicity is the 
same with unity. (Art. 154.) 

453. The second sense is, simplicity of thought, as oppos- 
ed to refinement. Simple thoughts are what arise natural- 
ly ; what the occasion or the subject suggest unsought; and 
what, when once suggested, are easily apprehended by all. 
Refinement in writing, expresses a less natural and obvious 
train of thought, and which it requites a peculiar turn of 
genius to pursue; within certain bounds, very beautiful ; 

* " Then Iparn the wand'ring humour to controul, 
And keep one equal lenor through the whole." 
21 



236 The General Characters of Style, 

but when carried too far, approaching to intricacy, and huri^ 
Ing us by the appearance of being far-sought. 

Illus Thus, we would naturally say, that Pamell is a poet of far 
greater simplicity, in his turn of thought, than Cowley > Cicero's* 
thoughts on moral subjects are natural ; Seneca's, too refined and la- 
boured. In these two senses of simplicity, when it is opposed, either 
to variety of paits, or to refinement of thought, it has no proper rela- 
tion to style. 

454. There is a third sense of simplicity, in which it has 
respect to style ; and stands opposed to too much ornament, 
or pomp of language. 

Illus. When we say Locke is a simple, and Harvey is a florid writer ; 
it is in this sense, that the M simplex/' the " tenue," or " subtile ge- 
nus dicendi" as understood by Cicero and Quinctilian, are applicable. 

2. The simple style, in this sense, coincides with the plain or the neat 
style, (Art. 446. and441.) and, therefore, requires no farther illustration. 

455. But there is a fourth sense of simplicity, also, re- 
specting style ; but not respecting the degree of ornament 
employed, so much as the easy and natural manner in which 
eur language expresses our thoughts. This is quite differ- 
ent from the former sense of the word just now mentioned, 
in which simplicity was equivalent to plainness : whereas^ 
ki this sense, it is compatible with the highest ornament. 

Illus. Homer, for instance, possesses *his simplicity in the greatest 
perfection ; and yet no writer has more ornament and beauty. This 
simplicity, which is what we are now to consider, stands opposed, not 
to ornament, but to affectation of ornament, or appearance of labour" 
about our style ; and it is a distinguishing excellency in writing. 

456. A writer of simplicity expresses himself in such a 
manner, that every one thinks he could have written in the 
same way ; Horace describes it, 

..... ut sibi quivis 

Speret idem, sudet multum, frustraque laboret 

Ausus idem.* 

Illus. 1. There are no marks of art in his expression ; it seems the 
very language of nature ; you see in the style, not the writer and his 
labour, but the man in his own natural character. (Art. 181. Illus.) 
He may be rich in his expression ; he may be full of figures, and of 
fcney ; but these flow from him without effort ; and he appears to 
write in this manner, not because he has studied it, but because it is the 
manner of expression most natural to him. 

2. A certain degree of negligence, also, is not inconsistent with this 
character of style, and even not ungraceful -in it ; for too minute an at- 
tention to words is foreign to it : let this style have a certain softnes» 
and ease, which shall characterise a negligence, not unpleasing in a« 

* " Froni well-known tales such fictions would I raise, 
As all might hope to imitate with ease ; 
Yet, while they strive the same success to gain. 
Should find their labours and their hopes is vain." Francis 



The simple Style. 23~ 

fcuihor, who appears to be more solicitous about the thought than the 
expression*. 

3. This is the great advantage of simplicity of style, that, like sim- 
plicity of manners, it shews us a man's sentiments and turn of mind 
laid open without disguise. More studied and artificial manners of 
writing, however beautiful, have always this disadvantage, that they 
exhibit an author in form, like a man at court, where the splendour 
of dress, and the ceremoniousuess of behaviour, conceal those pecu- 
liarities which distinguish one man from another. But reading an 
author pf simplicity , is like conversing with a person of distinction at 
home, and with ease, where we find natural manners, and a marked 
character. 

457. The highest degree of this simplicity is expressed bj 
the French term naivete, to which we have none that fully 
answers in our language. It is not easy to give a precise 
idea of the import of this word. It always expresses a dis- 
covery of character. 

Illus. 1. Perhaps the best account of it, is that given by Marmontel, 
who explains it thus : that sort of amiable ingenuity, or undisguised 
openness, which seems to give us some degree of superiority over the 
person who shews it ; a certain infantine simplicity, which we love in 
our hearts, but which displays some features of the character that wc 
think we could have art enough to hide ; and which, therefore, always 
leads us to smile at the person who discovers this character. 

2. La Fontaine, in his Fables, may be given as a great example of 
such naivele. This, however, is to be understood, as descriptive of a 
particular species only of simplicity. 

458. With respect to simplicity, in general, we may re- 
mark, that the ancient original writers are always the most 
eminent for it This happens from a plain reason, that they 
wrote from the dictates of natural genius, and were not 
formed upon the labours and writings of others, which is al- 
ways in hazard of producing affectation. 

Carol. Hence, among the Greek writers, we have more models of a 
beautiful simplicity, than among the Roman. Homer, Ilcsiod, Anac- 
rcon, Theocritus. Herodotus, and Xenophon, are ail distinguished for 
their simplicity. Among the Romans also, we have some writers of 
this character, particularly Terence, Lucretius, Pha:dius. and Julius 
Caesar. 

459. Simplicity is the great beauty of Archbishop Tillot- 
soirs manner. Tillotson has long been admired as an elo- 
quent writer, and a model for preaching. But his elo- 
quence, if we can call it such, has been often misunderstood. 
For, if we include, in the idea of eloquence, vehemence and 
strength, picturesque description, glowing figures, or correct 
arrangement of sentences, in all these parts of oratory the 
Archbishop is exceedingly deficient. (Br. Blair.) 

* " Habet iHe. molle quiddam. et quod indiee non ingratamnegligentiam hominis, 
4& re jr.sgis quaro de verbo laborantis." Cicero de Orat. 



238 The general Characters of 8tyte. 

Obs. His style is always pure, indeed, and perspicuous, but careless- 
and remiss, too often feeble and languid ; little beauty in the construc- 
tion of bis sentences, which are frequently suffered to drag unharmo- 
niously : seldom any attempt towards strength or sublimity, But, not- 
withstanding these defects, such a constant vein of good sense and 
piety runs through his works, such an earnest and serious manner, and 
so much useful instruction conveyed in a style so pure, natural, and 
unaffected, as will justly recommend him to high regard, as long as 
the Euglish language shall remain ; not, indeed, as a model of the high- 
est eloquence, but as a simple and amiable writer, whose manner is 
strongly expressive of great goodness and worth. (Illus. 8. Art. 222.) 

460. Sir William Temple is another remarkable writer in 
the style of simplicity. In point of ornament and correct- 
ness he rises a degree above Tillotson ; though, for correct- 
ness, he is not in the highest rank. Ail is easy and flowing 
in him ; he is exceedingly harmonious ; smoothness, and 
what may be called amenity,, are the distinguishing charac- 
ters of his manner ; relaxing sometimes, as such a manner 
will naturally do, into a prolix and remiss style. 

Obs. No writer whatever has stamped upon his style a more lively 
impression of his own character. In reading his works, we seem en- 
gaged in conversation with him ; we become thoroughly acquainted 
with him, not merely as an author, but as a man ; and contract a 
friendship for him. He may be classed as standing in the middle, be- 
tweeu a negligent simplicity, and the highest degree of ornament which 
this character of style admits. (See Ex. 2. and Analysis, Art. 217.) 

461. Addison is, beyond doubt, in the English language, 
the most perfect example of the highest, most correct, and 
ornamental degree of the simple manner : and, therefore, 
though not without some faults, he is, on the whole, the 
safest model for imitation, and the freest from considera- 
ble defects, which the language affords. 

Obs. 1. Perspicuous and pure he is in the highest degree : his pre* 
cis'iou, indeed, not very great ; yet nearly as great as the subjects, 
which he treats of, require : the construction of his sentences easy, 
agreeable, and commonly very musical ; carrying a character of 
smoothness, more than of strength. 

2. In figurative language, he is rich : particularly in similes and 
metaphors ; which are so employed as to render his style splendid, 
without being gaudy. There is not the least affectation in his manner: 
we see no marks of labour ; nothing forced or constrained ; but great 
elegance, joined with great ease and simplicity. 

3. He is, in particular, distinguished by a character of modesty, and 
of politeness, which appears in all his writings. No author has a more 
popular and insinuating manner ; and the great regard which he every 
wheve shews for virtue and religion, recommends his Spectator very 
highly. 

4. If he fails in any thing, it is in want of strength and precision, 
which render* his manner, though perfectly suited to such essays as he 
writes in the Spectator; not altogether a proper model for any of the- 



The simple, affected, and vehement %/es. 2$9 

higher and more elaborate kinds of composition. Though the public 
have ever done much justice to his merit, yet the nature of his merit 
has not always been seen in its true light ; for, though his poetry bt 
elegant, he certainly bears a higher rank among the prose writers, than 
he is entitled to anion? the poets ; and, in prose, his humour is of a 
much higher and more original strain, than his philosophy. The char- 
acter of"Sir Roger de Ooverlv discovers more genius than the critique 
on Milton. (Ste Illus. 8. Ar't. 222. and Art. 272. Grit. 4.) 

462. Such authors as those, whose characters^ we have 
been giving, one is never tired of reading. There is nothing 
in their manner that strains or fatigues our thoughts ; we 
are pleased, without being dazzled by their lustre. So pow- 
erful is the charm of simplicity in an author of real genius, 
that it atones for many defects, and reconciles us to many a 
careless expression. 

Coroi. 1. Hence in ail the most excellent authors, both in prose and 
verse, the simple and natural manner may be always remarked ; al- 
though other beauties being predominant, this forms not their peculiar 
and distinguishing character. 

2. Thus Milton is simple in the midst of all his grandeur: and De- 
mosthenes, in the midst of all his vehemence. (Illus. 2. and Analysis, 
Art. 212.) ' 

Obs. To grave and solemn writings, simplicity of manner adds the 
more venerable air. Accordingly, this has often been remarked as the 
prevailing character throughout all the sacred Scriptures ; and indeed 
no other character of style was so much suited to their dignity. 

465. Of authors, who, notwithstanding many excellencies, 
have rendered their style much less beautiful by want of 
simplicity, Lord Shaftsbury furnishes the most remarkable 
example. His lordship is an author on whom we have made 
observations several times before, and we shall now take 
leave of him, with giving his general character under this 
head. 

Obs. 1. Considerable merit, doubtless, he has. His language has 
many beauties. It is firm, and supported in an uncommon degree ; it 
is rich and musical. No English author has attended so much to the 
regular construction of his sentences, both with respect to propriety, 
and with respect to cadence. (Illus. 1. Art. 222.) All this gives so 
much elegance and pomp to his language, that there is no wonder it 
should have heen highly admired by some. It is greatly hurt, howev- 
er, by perpetual stiffness and affectation. This is its capital fault. 

2. Like Dr. Johnson, his lordship can express nothing with simplici- 
ty. He seems to have considered it as vulgar, and beneath the dignity 
of a man of quality, to speak like other men. Johnson coual say no- 
thing but as a lexicographer. Lord Shaftsbury is ever in buskins ; 
and dressed out with magnificent elegance. Johnson is clad in the 
leaves of his dictionary ; he lived upon it, as Boniface did upon his 
ale. In every sentence of Lord Shaftsbury, we see the maiks of la- 
bour and art ; nothing of that ease, which expresses a sentiment com- 
ing natural aud warm from the heart. Johnson is a perfect mechanist 

521* 



^40 The general Characters of Sly It. 

of style. Having once studied him, you will know his style among A 
thousand ; so exactly do the counters he presents to you, correspond 
with the Roman die, whence they were turned out. Of figures and 
ornaments of every kind, Lord Shaftsbury is exceedingly fond ; some- 
times happy in them ; but his fondness for thern is too visible ; and, 
having once laid hold of some metaphor or allusion that pleases him, 
he knows not how to part with it. The coldness of Johnson's heart, 
did not allow him to indulge at pleasure in figures and ornament. 
His figures are always correct, but artificial and stately; and his alle- 
gories, in the Rambler, are awkwardly classical, though some of them 
are not deficient in wit and elegance. His Allegory of Criticism, an 
early paper in the Rambler, is a pertinent illustration. 

464. Having now said so much to recommend simplicity, 
or the easy and natural manner of writing, and having 
pointed out the detects of an opposite manner ; in order to 
prevent mistakes on this subject, it is necessary to observe* 
that it is very possible for an author to write simply and yet 
not beautifully. One may be free from affectation, and not 
have merit. 

Illus. 1. The beautiful simplicity supposes an author to possess real 
genius-; to write with solidity, "purity, and liveliness of imagination. 
h\ this case, the simplicity or unaflectedness of his manner, is the 
crowning ornament ; it heightens every other beauty ;. it is the dress 
of nature, without which all beauties are imperfect. 

2. But if mere unaffectedness were sufficient to constitute the beauty 
of style, weak, trifling, and dull writers might often lay claim to this 
beauty. And, accordingly, we frequently meet with pretended criticsy 
who extol the dullest writers, on account of what they call the •' chaste 
simplicity of their manner;" which, in truth, is no other than the ab- 
sence of every ornament, through the mere want of genius and ima- 
gination. 

8. We must distinguish, therefore, between that simplicity which 
accompanies true genius, and which is perfectly compatible with every 
proper ornament of style, and that which is no other than a careless 
and slovenly manner. Indeed the distinction is easily made from the 
effect produced. The one never fails to interest the reader ; the otheu 
is insipid and tiresome. 

465. We proceed to mention one other manner or charac- 
ter of style different from any that has yet been spoken of; 
and which may be distinguished by the name of the vehe- 
ment. This always implies strength ; and is not, by any 
means, inconsistent with simplicity; but, in its predomin- 
ant character, it is distinguishable from either the strong or 
the simple manner. 

Jllus. It has a peculiar ardour ; it is a glowing style ; the language 
of a man, whose imagination and passions are heated, and strongly af- 
fected by what he writes ; who is therefore negligent of minor graces, 
but pours himself forth with the rapidity and fulness of a torrent. It 
^belongs to the higher kinds of oratory ; and, indeed, is rather expect- 
ed from a man who b speaking, than from one who is writing in his 



The simple, affected, and vehement Styles, 9A\ 

closet. The orations of Demosthenes furnish the full and perfect ex- 
ample of this species of style. 

466. Anions; English writers, the one who has most of 



this character, though mixed, indeed, with several defect? 



s, 

is Lord Bolingbroke. His lordship was formed by nature 
to be a factious leader ; the demagogue of a popular assem- 
bly. Accordingly the style that runs through all his politi- 
cal writings, is that of one declaiming with heat, rather than 
writing with deliberation. 

Illus. He abounds in rhetorical figures ; and pours himself forth with 
great impetuosity. He is copious to a fault ; places the same thought 
before us in many different views ; but generally with life and ardour. 
He is bold, rather than- correct ; a torrent that flows strong, but often 
inuddy. His sentences are varied as to length and shortness ; inclin- 
ing, however, most to long periods, sometimes including parentheses, 
and frequently crowding and heaping a multitude of things upon one 
another, as naturally happens in the warmth of speaking. In the 
choice of his words, there is great felicity and precision. In exact 
construction of sentences, he is much inferior to Lord Shaftsbury ; but 
greatly superior to him in life and ease. Upon the whole, his merit, 
as a writer, would have been very considerable, if his matter had 
equalled his style. But whilst we find many things to commend in the 
latter, in the former, as we before remarked, we can hardly find any 
thing to commend. In his reasonings, for the most part, he is flimsy 
and false ; in his political writings, factious ; in what he calls his phi- 
losophical ones, sophistical in the highest degree. 

467. Some other characters of style, beside those which 
we have mentioned, might be pointed out ; but it is very 
difficult to separate such general considerations of the style 
of authors from their peculiar turn of sentiment, which it is 
not the business of this work to criticise. 

Illus. Conceited writers, for instance, discover their spirit so much 
in their composition, that it imprints on their style a character of pert- 
ness ; though it is difficult to say, whether this can be classed among 
the attributes of style, or is rather to be ascribed entirely to the 
thought. In whatever class we rank it, all appearances of it ought to 
be avoided with care, as a most disgusting blemish in writing. Under 
general heads, it is no difficult task to classify the character of many of 
the eminent writers in the English language. 

Scholia. From what has been said on this subject, it may be infer- 
red, that to determine among all these different manners of writing, 
what is precisely the best, is neither easy not necessary. Style is a 
field that admits of great latitude. Its qualities in different authors 
may be very different ; and yet in them all, beautiful. Room must be 
left here for genius ; for that particular determination which one re- 
ceives from nature to one manner of expression more than another. 

2. Some general qualities, indeed, there are of such importance, as 
should always, in every kind of composition, be kept in view ; and 
some defects we should always study to avoid. 

3, An ostentatious, a feeble, a harsh, or an obscure style, for in- 
stance, is always faulty ; and perspicuity, strength, neatness, and 



^42 Directions for forming Slyh. 

simplicity, are beauties to be always aimed at. But as to the mixture 
of all, or the degree of predominancy of any one of these good quali- 
ties, for forming our peculiar distinguishing manner, no precise rules 
can be given ; nor would it be prudent to point out any one model as 
absolutely perfect. 

4. It will be more to tb^ purpose, that we conclude these disserta- 
tions upon style, with a few directions concerning the proper method 
of attaining a good style, in general ; leaving the particular character 
of that style to be either formed by the subject on which we write, or 
prompted by the bent of genius. 



CHAPTER In- 
directions FOR FORMING STYLE. 

468. THE first direction which we give for this purpose, 
is, to study clear ideas on the subject concerning which you 
are to write or speak. This is a direction which may at first 
appear to have small relation to style. Its relation to it, 
however, is extremely close. The foundation of all good 
style, is good sense, accompanied with a lively imagination. 

Illus. 1. The style and thoughts of a writer are so intimately connect- 
ed, that it is frequently hard to distinguish them. (.Art. 332.) When- 
ever the impressions of things upon our minds are faint and indistinct, 
or perplexed and confused, our style in treating of such things will in- 
fallibly be so too. Whereas, what we conceive clearly and feel strong- 
ly, we shall naturally express w ith clearness and with strength. (Illus. 
Jrt. 465.) 

2. This, then, we may be assured, is a capital rule as to style, to 
think closely on the subject, till we have attained a full and distinct 
view of the matter which we are to clothe in words, till we become 
warm and interested in it ; then, and not till then, shall we find ex- 
pression begin to flow. 

3. Generally speaking, the best and most proper expressions are 
those which a clear view of the subject suggests, without much labour 
or inquiry after them. This is Quinctilian's observation : the most 
proper words for the most part adhere to the thoughts which are to be 
expressed b}' them, and may be discovered as by their own light. But 
we hunt after them as if they were hidden, and only to be found in a 
corner. Hence, instead of conceiving the words to lie ne?r the sub- 

ect, we go in quest of them to some other quarter, and endeavour to 
give force to the expressions we have found out."* 

469. In the second place, in order to form a good style, 
ine. frequent practice of composing is indispensably necessa- 

* Plcrumque optima verba rebus cohaerent, et eernumur soo lnminet. At nos 
quaerinius ilia, tanquara lateant seque subducant. Ita nucquain putamus verba esse 
circa id de quo dicendum est; std ex aliis Jecis peti'mus, et inventus vim afferiruus. 
Xib. viii, e. j. 



Directions for forming Style. &4S 

ly. We have delivered many rules concerning style ; but 
no rules will answer the end, without exercise and habit. 
At the same time, it is not every sort of composing that will 
improve style. 

Illus. This is so far from being- the case, that by frequent, careless, 
and hasty composition, we shall certainly acquire a very bad style ; 
we shall lmve more trouble afterwards in unlearning - faults, and cor- 
recting negligences, than if we had not been accustomed to composi- 
tion ai all. In the beginning, therefore, we ought to write slowly, and 
with much care. Let the facility and speed of writing be the fruit of 
longer practice. u l enjoin," say6 Quinctiiian, " that such as are be- 
ginning the practice of composition, write slowly and with anxious de- 
liberation. Their great object at first should be, to write as well as 
possible ; practice will enable them to write speedily. By degrees, 
matter will offer itself still more readily ; words will be at hand ; com- 
position will flow ; every thing, as in the arrangement of a well-order- 
ed family, will present itself in its proper place. The sum of the whole 
is this : by hasty composition, we shall never acquire the art of com- 
posing well ; by writing well, we shall come to write speedily."* 

470. We must observe, however, that there may be an 
extreme, in too great and anxious care about words. We 
must not retard the course of thought, nor cool the heat of 
imagination, by pausing too long on every word we employ. 
There is, on certain occasions, a glow of composition, which 
should be kept up, if we hope to express ourselves happily, 
though at the expense of allowing some inadvertencies to 
pass. A more severe examination of these must be left for 
the work of correction. For, if the practice of composition 
be useful, the laborious work of correcting is no less so ; it is 
indeed absolutely necessary to our reaping any benefit from 
the habit of composition. 

Obs. 1. What we have written should be laid by for some little time, 
till the ardour of composition be past, till the fondness for the expres- 
sions which we have used be worn off, and the expressions themselves 
be forgotten ; and then reviewing our work with a cool and critical eye. 
as if it were the performance of another, we shall discern many imper- 
fections which at first escaped us. 

2. Then is the season for pruning redundancies ; for examining the 
arrangement of senteuces ; for attending to the juncture of the partt- 
ejies connecting the whole ; and bringing style into a regular, correct, 
and supported form. 

3. This " labour at the beginning," must be submitted to by all who 
would communicate their thoughts with proper advantage to others ; 
and some practice in it will soon sharpen their eye to the most neces- 
sary objects of attention, and render it a much more easy and practi- 
cable work than might at first be imagined. 

* '' Moram et solieitudinera. initiis irr.pero. Nam primum hoc constitueudum ac 
ohtinendum est,ut quam optisne scribamus: celeritatein dabit comuetiido. Paulutim 
res facilius se osttndc'nt, verba respond* bum, compositio prosequctur. Cuncta deni- 
que ut in familia bene instituia in officio erunt. Summa b*« estrei ; cito scribr^do 
lion fit ut benescribatiir; bene scribendo, sit ut cito." 1. x. c. 3. 



244 Directions for^ forming Siyle. 

471. In the third place, with respect to the assistance that 
is to be gained from the writings 01 others, it is obvious, that 
we ought to render ourselves well acquainted with the style 
of the best authors. This is requisite, both in order to form 
a just taste in style, and to supply us with a full stock of 
words on every subject. 

06*. 1. In reading authors with a view to style, attention should be 
given to the peculiarities of their different manners ; and in this Gram- 
mar we have endeavoured to suggest several things that may be useful 
in this view. Dr. Blair says, no exercise will be found more useful for 
acquiring a proper style, than to translate some passage from an emin- 
ent English author into our own words. 

2. What he means is, to take, for instance, some page of one of Ad- 
dison's Spectators, and read it carefully over two or three times, till we 
have got a firm hold of the thoughts contained in it ; then to lay aside 
the book ; to attempt to write out the passage from memory, in the 
best way we can ; and having done so, next to open the book, and com- 
pare what we have written, with the style of the author. 

3. Such an exercise will, by comparison, shew u? where the defects 
of our style lie; it will lead us to the proper attentions for rectifying 
them; and among the different ways in which the same thought may be 
expressed, it will make us perceive that which is the most beautiful. 

472. In the fourth place, guard yourself, at the same time, 
against a servile imitation of any author whatever. This is 
always dangerous. It hampers genius ; it is likely to pro- 
duce a stiff manner ; and those who are given to close imi- 
tation, generally imitate an author's faults, as well as his 
beauties. No man will ever become a good writer or speak- 
er, who has not some degree of confidence to follow his own 
genius. 

Obs. You ought to beware, in particular, of adopting any author's 
noted phrases, or transcribing passages from him. Such a habit will 
prove fatal to all genuine composition. Infinitely better it is to have 
something that is your own, though of moderate beauty, thai, to affect 
to shine in borrowed ornaments, which will, at lasf, betray the utter 
poverty of your genius. On these heads of composing, correcting, 
reading, and imitating, every student of oratory should consult what 
Quinctilian has delivered in the tenth book of his Institutions, where 
will be found a variety of excellent observations and directions, that 
well deserve attention. 

473. In the fifth place, it is an obvious, but material rule, 
with respect to style, that you always study to adapt it to the 
subject, and also to the capacity of your hearers, if you are 
to speak in public. Nothing merits the name of eloquent or 
beautiful, which is not suited to the occasion, and to the per- 
sons to whom it is addressed. It is to the last degree awk- 
ward and absurd, to attempt a poetical florid style, on occa- 
sions when it should be your business only to argue and re<v 



Conduct of a Discourse in all its Parts, 245 

son ; or to speak with elaborate pomp of expression, before 
persons who comprehend nothing of it, and who can only 
stare at your unseasonable magnificence. These are defects 
not so much in point of style, as, what is much worse, in 
point of common sense. 

Obs. When you begin to write or speak, you ought previously to fix 
in your minds a clear conception of the end to be aimed at ; to keep 
this steadily in your view, and to suit your style to it. If you do not 
sacrifice to this great object, every ill-timed ornament that may occur 
to your fancy, you are unpardonable ; and though children and fools 
may admire, men of sense will laugh at you and your style, 

474. In the last place carry along with you this admoni- 
tion, that, in any case, and on any occasion, attention to 
Myle must not engross you so much, as to detract from a 
bigher degree of attention to the thoughts : " to your ex- 
pression be attentive ; but about your matter be solicitous/'* 

Obs. It is much easier to dress up trivial and common sentiments 
with some beauty of expression, than to afford a fund of vigorous, in- 
genious, and useful thoughts. The latter requires true genius ; the 
former may be attained by industry, with the help of very superficial 
parts. Hence, we find so many writers frivolously rich in style, but 
wretchedly poor in sentiment. The public ear is now so much accus- 
tomed to a correct and ornamented style, that no writer can, with safe- 
ty, neglect the study of it. But he is a contemptible one, who does not 
look to something beyond it ; who does not lay the chief stress upon 
his matter, and employ such ornaments of style to recommend it, as 
are manly, not foppish. " A higher spirit ought to animate those who 
study eloquence. They ought to consult the health and fondness of 
the Whole body, rather than bend their attention to such trifling ob- 
jects as paring the nails, and dressing the hair. Let ornament be 
manly and chaste, without effeminate gaiety, or artificial colouring ; 
*et it shine with the glow of health and strength. "f 



CHAPTER V. 

«©NDU«T OP A DISCOURSE IN ALL ITS PARTS INTRODUC- 
TION, DIVISION, NARRATION AND EXPLICATION. 

475. ON whatever subject any one intends to discourse,, 
he will most commonly begin with some introduction, in order 
to prepare the minds of his hearers ; he will then state his 
subject, and explain the facts connected with it ; he will 

* " Curara verborum, rerura voloesse solicit udinem.* 

t - Majore animo aggredieuda est eloquentia ; quae si toto cprpore valet, ungues 
p<>lire et capilhjm coioponere, non existm<abit ad euram suam pertinere. Ornatus- 
rt Mtilis et ton is, et sancius sit ; nee eftVmiiatam levitatetn, et faco ementituw c«lt- 
'•"•TJ* vaet^ sanguine et Yiribus aiteat." Quinctilian. 



246 Conduct of a Discourse in all its Parts. 

employ arguments for establishing his own opinion, and 
overthrowing that of his antagonist : he may perhaps, if 
there be room for it, endeavour to touch the passions of his 
audience ; and after having said all he thinks proper, he will 
bring his discourse to a close, by some peroration or con- 
clusion. 

476. This being the natural train of speaking, the parts 
that compose a regular formal oration, are these six : 

First, the exordium, or introduction ; 

Secondly, the statement, and the division of the subject ; 

Thirdly, the narration, or explication ; 

Fourthly, the reasoning, or arguments ; 

Fifthly, the pathetic parts ; 

And, lastly, the conclusion. 

477. The exordium, or introduction, is manifestly com- 
mon to all kinds of public speaking. It is not a rhetorical 
invention. It is founded upon nature, and suggested by 
common sense. 

Tllus. When one is going to counsel another ; when he takes upon 
him to instruct, or to reprove, prudence will generally direct him not 
to do it abruptly, but to use some preparation ; to begin with some 
matter that may incline the persons, to whom he addresses himself, to 
judge favourably of what he is about to say ; and may dispose them 
to such a train of thought, as will forward and assist the purpose 
which he has in view. This is, or it ought to be, the main scope of an 
introduction. 

478. First, to conciliate the good-will of the hearers ; to 
render them benevolent, or well -affected, to the speaker, and 
to the subject. 

Illus. Topics for this purpose may, in causes at the bar, be some- 
times taken from the particular situation of the speaker himself, or of 
his client, or from the character or behaviour of his antagonists, con- 
trasted with his own ; on other occasions, from the nature of the sub- 
ject, as closely connected with the interest of the hearers ; and, in 
general, from the modesty and good intention with which the speaker 
enters upon his subject. 

479. The second end of an introduction, is, to raise the 
attention of the hearers ; which may be effected, by giving 
them some hints of the importance, dignity, or novelty of 
the subject ; or some favourable view of the clearness and 
precision with which we are to treat it; and of the brevity 
with which we are to discourse. 

480. The third end is, to render the hearers docile, or open 
to persuasion ; for which end we must begin with studying 
•to remove any particular prepossessions they may have con- 



The Introduction, 247 

tracted against the cause, or side of the argument, which we 
espouse. 

481. As few parts of the discourse give the composer more 
trouble, or are attended with more nicety in the execution, 
we shall here lay down the following rules, for the proper 
composition of this part of the subject. 

482. The first rule is, that the introduction should be easy 
and natural. The subject must always suggest it. 

Obs. It is too common a fault in introductions, that they are taken 
from some common-place topic, which has no particular relation to 
the subject in hand ; by which means they stand apart, like pieces de- 
tached from the rest of the discourses to which they are prefixed. 

483. In order to render introductions natural and easy, 
it is a good rule, that they should not be planned, till after 
one has meditated in his own mind the substance of his dis- 
course. Then, and not till then, he should begin to think of 
some proper and natural introduction. 

Obs. By taking- a contrary course, and labouring - in the first place 
on an introduction, every one who is accustomed to composition, will 
often find, that either he is led to lay hold of some common-place 
topic, or that, instead of the introduction being accommodated to the 
discourse, he is obliged to accommodate the whole discourse to the in- 
troduction which he had previously written. 

484. In the second place, in an introduction, correctness 
should be carefully studied in the expression. This is re- 
quisite, on account of the situation of the hearers. 

06s. They are then more disposed to criticise than at any other pe- 
riod ; they are, as yet, unoccupied with the subject or the arguments ; 
their attention is wholly directed to the speaker's style and manner. 
Something must be done, therefore, to prepossess them in his favour ; 
though, for the same reasons, too much art must be avoided ; for it will 
be marc easily detected at that time than afterwards ; and will dero- 
gate from persuasion in all that follows. 

485. In the third place, modesty is another character 
which it must carry. Alt appearances of modesty are fa- 
vourable, and prepossessing. If the orator set out with an 
air of arrogance and ostentation, the self-love and pride of 
the hearers will be presently awakened, and they will listen 
to him with a very suspicious ear throughout all his dis- 
course. 

Obs. His modesty should discover itself not only in his expressions 
at the beginning, bat in his whole manner ; in hb looks, in bis ges- 
tures, in the tone of his voice. Every auditory take in good part those 
marks of respect and awe, which are-paid to them by om who' redress- 
es them. Indeed the modesty of an introduction should iiever betray 
any thing mean or abject. It is al,.vays of great use to an orator, that, 
together with modesty and deference to his hearers, he should sh:nv a 

Z2 



248 Conduct of a Discourse in all its Parts, 

certain sense of dignity, arising from a persuasion of the justice or lift* 
portance of the subject on which he is to speak. 

486. In the fourth place, an introduction should usually 
be carried on in the calm manner. This is seldom the place 
for vehemence and passion. Emotions must rise as the dis- 
course advances. The minds of the hearers must be grad- ' 
ually prepared, before the speaker can venture on strong 
and passionate sentiments* 

Obs. The exceptions to this rule are, when the subject is such, that 
the very mention of it naturally awakens some passionate emotion ; or 
when the unexpected presence of some person or object, in a popular 
assembly, inflames the speaker, and makes him break forth with unu- 
sual warmth. Either of these will justify what is called the exordium 
ab abrwplo. 

Example. Thus the appearance of Catiline in the senate renders the 
vehement beginning of Cicero's first oration against him very natural 
and proper : u Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra V~ 
And thus Bishop Atterbury, in preaching from this text, " Blessed is 
he, whosoever shall not be offended in me," ventures on breaking forth 
with this bold exordium : " And can any man then be offended in 
thee, blessed Jesus ?" 

487. In the fifth place, it is a rule in introductions, not to 
anticipate any material part of the subject. 

Obs. When topics, or arguments, which are afterwards to be enlarg- 
ed upon, are hinted at, and, in part, brought forth' in the introduction, 
they lose the grace of novelty upon their second appearance. The im- 
pression intended to be made by any capital thought, is always made 
with the greatest advantage, when it is made entire, and in its proper 
place. 

488. In the last place, the introduction ought to be pro- 
portioned, both in length, and in kind, to the discourse that 
is to follow : in length, as nothing can be more absurd than 
to erect a very great portico before a small building; and in 
kind, as it is no less absurd to overcharge, with superb orna- 
ments, the portico of a plain dwelling-house, or to make the 
entrance to a monument as gay as that to an arbour. Com- 
mon sense directs, that every part of a discourse should be 
suited to the strain and spirit of the whole. 

Sckolium. These are the principal rules that relate to introductions. 
They are adapted, in a great measure, to discourses of all kinds. In 
pleadings-at the bar, or speeches in public assemblies, particular care 
must be taken not to employ such an introduction as the adverse party 
may lay hold of, and turn to his advantage. 

489. After the introduction, what commonly comes next 
in order, is the proposition, or enunciation of the subject. 
Concerning the proposition, it is to be observed* that it 
should be as clear and distinct as possible, and expressed io 
few and plain words, without the least affectation, 



The Proposition or Enunciation of the Subject. 249 

490. To this, generally succeeds the division, or the lay- 
ing down the method of the discourse ; on which it is neces- 
sary to make some observations. 

Obs. We do not mean, that in every discourse, a formal division or 
distribution of it into parts, is requisite. There are many occasions ot 
public speaking, when this is neither requisite, nor would be proper ; 
when the discourse, perhaps, is to be short, or only one point is to be 
treated of ; or wheu the speaker does not choose to warn his hearers 
of the method he is to follow, or of the conclusion to which he seeks to 
bring them. Order, of one kind or other, is, indeed, essential to every 
good discourse ; that is, every thing- should be so arranged, that what 
goes before may give light and force to what follows. But this may 
be accomplished by means of a concealed method. What we call di- 
vision is, when the method is propounded in form to the hearers. 
The discourse in which this sort of division most commonly take? 
place, is a sermon. 

491. In a sermon, or pleading, or any discourse, where 
division is proper to be used, the most material rules are, 

492. First, that the several parts into which the subject is 
divided, be really distinct from one another; that is, that no 
one include another. 

Obs. It were a very absurd division, for instance, if one should pro- 
pose to treat first, of the advantages of virtue, and next, of those of jus- 
tice or temperance ; because, the first head evidently comprehends the 
second, as a genus does the species. He who proceeds in this method 
involves his subject in disorder and indistinctness. 

493. Secondly, in division, we must take care to follow 
the order of nature; beginning with the simplest points, such 
as are easiest apprehended, and necessary to be first discuss- 
ed ; and proceeding thence to those which are built upon 
the former, and which suppose them to be known. We 
must divide the subject into those parts into which it is most 
easily and naturally resolved ; that it may seem to split 
itself, and not be violently torn asunder: "Dividere/' as is 
commonly said, " non frangere," 

494. Thirdly, the several members of a division ought to 
exhaust the subject ; otherwise, we do not make a complete 
division ; we exhibit the subject by pieces and corners only, 
without giving any such plan as displays the whole. 

495. Fourthly, the terms in which our partitions are ex- 
pressed, should be as concise as possible. Avoid all circum- 
locution here. Admit not a single word but what is neces- 
sary. Precision is to be studied, above all tilings, in laying 
down your method, 

Obs. It is this which chiefly makes a division appear neat and ele- 
gant ; when the several heads are propounded in the clearest, most 
€ T-pressiye. and, at the same time, the fewest words possible. Tfiis 



250 Conduct of a Discourse in all its Parts. 

never fsils to strike the hearers agreeably ; and is, at the same time, of 
great consequence towards making- the divisions be more easily re- 
membered. 

496. Fifthly, avoid an unnecessary multiplication of 
heads. To split a subject into a great many minute parts, 
by divisions and subdivisions without end, has always a bad 
effect in speaking. 

Obs. It may be proper in a logical treatise ; but it makes an ora- 
tion appear hard and dry, and unnecessarily fatigues the memory. In 
a sermon, there may be from three to five or six heads, including sub- 
divisions ; seldom should there be more. 

497. The next constituent part of a discourse, which we 
mentioned, was narration, or explication. 

Obs. We put these t vo together, both because they fall nearly under 
the same rules, and because they commonly answer the same purpose ; 
serving to illustrate the cause, or the subject of which the orator 
treats, before he proceeds to argue either en one side or other ; or to 
make any attempt for interesting the passions of the hearers. 

Jllns. I. Fn pleadings at the bar, narration is often a very important 
part of the discourse, and requires to be particularly attended to. Be- 
sides its being in no case an easy matter to relate with grace and pro- 
priety, there is, in narrations at the bar, a peculiar difficulty. The 
pleader must say nothing but what is true ; and, at the same time, he 
must avoid saying any tiling that will hurt his cause. 

2. The facts which he relates, are to be the ground-work of all his 
future reasoning. To recount them so as to keep strictly within the 
bounds of truth, and yet to present them under the colours most fa- 
vourable to his cause ; to place, in the most striking light, every cir- 
cumstance which is to his advantage, and to soften and weaken such 
as make against him, demand no smail exertion of skill and dexterity. 
lie must always remember, that if he discovers too much art, he de- 
feats his own purpose, and creates a distrust of his sincerity. 

493. To be clear and distinct, to be probable, and to be 
concise, are the qualities which critics chiefly require in nar- 
ration ; each of which carries, sufficiently, the evidence of 
its importance. 

Iilus. 1. Distinctness belongs to the whole train of the discourse, but 
is especially requisite in narration, which ought to throw light on all 
that follows. A fact, or a single circumstance left in obscurity, and 
misapprehended by the judge, may destroy the effect of all the argu- 
ment and reasoning which the speaker employs. If his narration be 
improbable, the judge will not regard it ; and if it be tedious and dif- 
fuse, he will be tired of it, and forget it. 

2. In order to produce distinctness, besides the study of the general 
rules of perspicuity which were formerly given, narration requires par- 
ticular attention to ascertain clearly' the names, the dates, the places, 
and every other material circumstance of the facts recounted. 

3. In order to be probable in narration, it is material to enter into 
ihe characters of the persons of whom we speak, and to show that their 
actions proceeded :Yom such motives as are natural, and likely to gaiu 
belief. 



The argumentative or reasoning Part. 251 

4. In order to bo as co icise as the subject will admit, it is necessary 
kotkfm* out ail superfluous circumstances ; the rejeclion of which ^ ill 
-e tend to make our narration more forcible and more clear. 

06?. In sermons, where there is seldom any occasion for narration,, 
explication of the subjec ■; lo be discoursed on, comes in the place ot 
narration at the fear, and is to be taken up much on the same tone , 
*hat is. it must be concise, clear, and distinct ; and in a style correct 
and elegant, rather than highly adorned. To explain the doctrine of 
the text with propriety ; to give a foil and perspicuous account of the 
nature of that virtue or duty which forms the subject of the discourse, 
is properly the didactic part of preaching; ; on the right execution of 
which much depends for all that comes afterwards in the way of pet- 
suasion, 

499. Of the argumentative or reasoning part of a dis- 
course. In whatever place, or on whatever subject one 
speaks, this, beyond doubt, is of the greatest consequence. 
For the great end for which men speak on any serious occa- 
sion, is to convince their hearers of something beiiig either 
true, or right, or good; and, by means of this conviction, to 
influence their practice. Reason and argument make the 
foundation of all manly and persuasive eloquence. 

500. Now, with respect to arguments, three things are re- 
quisite. 

First, the invention of them ; 

Secondly, the proper disposition and arrangement of them : 
And, thirdly, the expressing of them in such a style and 
manner, as to give them their full force. 

501. The first of these, invention, is, without doubt, the 
most material, and the ground-work of the rest. 

Obs. 1. But, with respect to this, it is beyond the power of art to give 
any real assistance. Art cannot go so far, as to supply a speaker with 
arguments on every cause, and ever} subject ; though it may be of 
considerable use in assisting him to arrange and express those, which 
it is knowledge of the subject has discovered. For it is one thing to 
discover the reasons that are most proper to convince men, and an- 
other, to manage these reasons with the most advantage. The latter 
is all that to which rhetoric can pretend. 

2. The assistance that can be given, not with respect to the invention, 
twit wkn respect to the disposition ami conduct of arguments, may be 
reduced to the following methods. 

502. Two different methods may be used by orators in the 
conduct of their reasoning. The terms of art for these 
methods are, the analytic, and the synthetic method. 

iilus. The analytic is that in which the orator conceals his intention 
concerning the point he is to prove, till he has gradually brought his 
hearers to the designed conclusion. They are led on/step by step, 
from one known truth to another, till the conclusion be stolen upon 
them, as the natural consequence of a chain of propositions. 

Example. When one, intending to prove the being of a God, sets out 



252 Conduct of a Discourse in all its Parte. 

with observing that every thing which we see in the world has had a 
beginning ; that 'whatever has had a beginning, must have had a prior 
cause ; that in human productions, art shown in the effect, necessarily 
infers design in the cause : and proceeds leading you on from one cause 
to another, till you arrive at one supreme first cause, from whom are 
derived all the order and design visible in his works. 

Obs. This is much the same with the Socratic method, by which 
that philosopher silenced the Sophists of his age. It is a very artful 
method of reasoning ; may be carried on with much beauty, and is 
proper to be used when the hearers are much prejudiced against any 
truth, and by imperceptible steps must be led to conviction. But there 
are few subjects that will admit this method, and not many occasions 
on which it is proper to be employed. 

503. The mode of reasoning most generally used, and 
most suited to the train of popular speaking, is what is called 
the synthetic $ when the point to be proved is fairly laid 
down, and one argument after another is made to bear upon 
it, till the hearers be fully convinced. 

Jllus. Now, in all arguing, one of the first things to be attended to, is, 
among the various arguments which may occur upon a cause, to make 
a proper selection of such as appear to one's self the most solid ; 
and to employ these as the chief means of persuasion. Every speaker 
should place himself in the situation of a hearer, and think how he 
would be affected by those reasons, which he purposes to employ for 
persuading others. For he must not expect to impose on mankind by 
mere arts of speech. They are not so easily imposed on, as public 
speakers are sometimes apt to think. Shrewdness and sagacity are 
found among all ranks ; and the speaker may be praised for his fine 
discourse, while the hearers are not yet persuaded of the truth of any 
one thing he has uttered. 

504. Supposing the arguments properly chosen, it is evi- 
dent that their effect will, in some measure, depend on the 
right arrangement of them ; so as they shall not justle and 
embarrass one another, but give mutual aid ; and bear with 
the fairest and fullest direction on the point in view. Con- 
cerning this, the following rules may be taken : 

505. In the first place, avoid blending arguments con- 
fusedly together, that are of a separate nature. All argu- 
ments whatever are directed to prove one or other of these 
three things : first, that something is true ; secondly, that it 
is morally right or fit ; or thirdly, that it is profitable and 
good. 

506. These make the three great subjects of discussion 
among mankind ; truth, duty, and interest. But the argu- 
ments directed towards any one of them are generically dis- 
tinct ,• and he who blends them all under one topic, which 
he calls his argument, as, in sermons especially, is too often- 
done, will render his reasoning indistinct and inelegant. 



The argumentative or reasoning Part, 255 

Illus. Suppose, for instance, that you are recommending to an audi- 
ence benevolence, or the love of our neighbour ; and that you take 
your first argument from the inward satisfaction which a benevolent 
temper affords ; your second, from the obligation which the example 
of Christ lays upon you to this duty ; and your third, from its tenden- 
cy to procure us the good-will of all around us ; your arguments are 
good, but you have arranged them wrong : for your first and third ar- 
guments are taken from considerations of interest, internal peace, and 
external advantages ; and between these, you have introduced one, 
which rests wholly upon duty. You should have kept those classes of 
arguments, which are addressed to different principles in human na- 
ture, separate and distinct. 

507. In the second place, with regard to the different de- 
grees of strength in arguments, the general rule is, to ad- 
vance in the way of climax, " ut augeatur semper, et incres- 
catoratio." 

Obs. 1. This especially is to be the course, when the speaker has a 
clear cause, and is confident that he can prove it fully. He may then 
adventure to begin with feebler arguments ; rising gradually, and not 
putting forth his whole strength till the last, when he can trust to his 
making a successful impression on the minds of his hearers, prepared 
by what has gone before. 

2. Hut this rule is not to be always followed. For, if he distrust? 
his cause, and has but one material argument on which to lay the 
stress, putting less confidence in the rest, in this case, it is often proper 
for him to place this material argument in the front; to pre-occupy 
the hearers early, and make the strongest effort at first : that, having 
removed prejudices, and disposed his hearers to be favourable, the rest 
of his reasoning may be listened to with more candour. When it hap- 
pens, that amidst a variety of arguments, there are some which we are 
sensible are more inconclusive than the rest, and yet proper to be used, 
Cicero advises to place these in the middle, as a station less conspicu- 
ous than either the beginning, or the end, of the train of reasoning. 

508. In the third place, when our arguments are strong 
and satisfactory, the more they are distinguished and treat- 
ed apart from each other, the better. Each can then bear to 
be brought out by itself, placed in its full light, amplified 
and rested upon. But when our arguments are doubtful, 
and only of the presumptive kind, it is safer to throw them 
together in a crowd, and to run them into one another ; that 
though infirm of themselves, they may serve mutually to 
prop each other. 

509. In the fourth place, we must observe not to extend 
arguments too far, and multiply them too much. If we do, 
we rather render our cause suspected, than give it weight. 
An unnecessary multiplicity of arguments both burdens the 
memory, and detracts from the weight of that conviction 
which a few well-chosen arguments carry. 

Obs. It is to be observed too, that in the amplification of argumenfs, 



254 Gonduct of a Discourse in all its Pat is* 

a diffuse and spreading- method, beyond the bounds of reasonable tl- 
lustration, is always enfeebling-. It takes off greatly from that strength 
and sharpness which should be the distinguishing- character of the ar- 
gumentative part of a discourse. When a speaker dwells long on a 
favourite argument, and seeks to turn it into every possible light, it al- 
most'always happens, that, fatigued with the effort, he loses the spirit 
with which he set out, and concludes with feebleness what he began 
with force. There is a proper temperance in reasoning, as there is in 
other parts of a discourse. 

510. After clue attention given to the proper arrange- 
ment of arguments, what is next requisite for their success, 
is, to express them in such a style, and to deliver them in 
such a manner, as shall give them full force. 

511. We now proceed to another essential part of dis- 
course, which was mentioned as the fifth in order, that is, the 
pathetic ; in which, if any where, eloquence reigns, and 
exerts its power. 

512. On the head of the pathetic, the following directions 
may be found -useful. 

513. The first is to consider carefully, whether the sub- 
ject admit the pathetic, and render it proper; and if it does, 
what part of the discourse is the most proper for attempt- 
ing it. 

Obs. 1. To determine these points belongs to good sense ; for It \s 
evident, that there are many subjects which admit not the pathetic at 
all, and that even in those that are susceptible of it, an attempt to ex- 
cite the passions in the wrong place, may expose an orator to ridicule. 
All that can be said in general is, that if we expect any emotion which 
we raise to have a lasting effect, we must be careful to bring over to 
our side, in the first place, the understanding and judgment. 

2. The hearers must be convinced that there are good and sufficient 
grounds for their entering with warmth into the cause. They must be 
able to justify to themselves the passion which they feel ; and remain 
satisfied that they are not carried away by mere deleision. 

3. Unless their minds be brought into this state, although they may 
have been heated by the orator's discourse, yet, as soon as he ceases to 
speak, they will resume their ordinary tone of thought ; and the emo- 
tion which he has raised will produce no effect. 

4. Hence most writers assign the pathetic to the peroration or con- 
elusion, as its natural place ; and, no doubt, all other things being 
equal, this is the impression that one would chuse to make last, leav- 
ing the minds of the hearers warmed with the subject, after argument 
and reasoning had produced their full effect ; but wherever it is intro- 
duced, observe, 

514. In the second place, never to set apart a head of a 
discourse in form, for raising any passion ; never give warn- 
ing that you are about to be pathetic ; and call upon your 
hearers, as is sometimes done, to follow you in the attempt. 
This almost never faiis to prove a refrigerant to passion. It 



The pathetic Pari. 9.55 

p\its the hearers immdiately on their guard, and disposes 
them for criticising, much more than for being moved. 

Obs. The indirect method of making an impression is likely to be 
more successful, when you seize the critical moment that is favourable 
to emotion, in whatever part of the discourse it occurs, and then, after 
due preparation, throw in such circumstances, and present such glow- 
ing- images, as may Uind'e their passions before they are aware. This 
can often be done more happily, in a few sentences inspired by natu- 
ral wannfh, than in a long and studied address, 

515. In the third place, it is necessary to observe, that 
there is a great difference between showing the hearers that 
they ought to be moved, and actually moving them. 

Jllus. To every emotion or passion, nature has adapted a set of cor- 
responding objects ; and, without setting these before the mind, it is 
not in the power of any orator to raise that emotion. I am warmed 
with gratitude, I am touched with compassion, not when a speaker 
shows me that these aie noble dispositions, and that it is my duty to 
feel them ; or when he exclaims against me for my indifference and 
coldness. All this time, he is speaking only to my reason or con- 
science. He must describe the kindness and tenderness of my friend ; 
he must set before me the distress suffered by the person for whom he 
would interest me ; then, and not till then, my heart begins to be 
touched, my gratitude or my compassion begins to flow. 

Scholium. The foundation, therefore, of all successive execution in 
the way of pathetic oratory is, to paint the object of that passion which 
we wish to raise, in the most natural and striking manner ; to describe 
this object with such circumstances as are likely to awaken in the 
minds of others the passion which we wish to raise. Every passion is 
most strongly excited by sensation ; as anger by the feeling of an in- 
jury, or the presence of the injurer. Next to the influence of sense, is 
that of memory ; and next to memory, is the influence of the imagina- 
tion. Of this power, therefore, the orator must avail himself, so as to 
strike the imagination of the hearers with circumstances which, in 
lustre and steadiness, resemble those of sensation and remembrance. 
In order to accomplish this, 

516. In the fourth place, the only effectual method is, to 
be moved yourselves. There are a thousand interesting 
circumstances suggested by real passion, which no art can 
imitate, and no refinement can supply. There is obviously 
a contagion among the passions. 

Obs. The internal emotion of the speaker adds a pathos to his words, 
his looks, his gestures, and his whole manner, which exerts a power 
almost irresistible over those who heai him. But on this point, though 
the most material of all, we shall not insist, as all attempts towards 
becoming pathetic, when we are not moved ourselves, expose us to 
certain ridicule. 

517. In the fifth place, it is necessary to attend to the 
proper language of the passions. We should observe in 
what manner any one expresses himself who is under tho 



%56 Conduct of a Discourse in all its Farts, 

power of a real and a strong passion ; and we shall always 
find his language unaffected and simple. 

libit. 1. It may be animated, indeed, with bold and strong figures, 
but it will have no ornament or finery. He is not at leisure to follow 
out the play of imagination. His mind being wholly Seized by one ob- 
ject, which has heated it, he has no other aim, but to represent that in 
all its circumstances, as strongly as he feels it. 

2. This must be the style of the orator when he would be pathetic ; 
and this will be his style, if he speaks from real feeling ; bold, ardent, 
simple. No sort of description will then succeed, but what is written 
" fervehte calamo." If he stay till he can work up his style, and pol- 
ish and adorn it, he will infallibly cool his own ardour ; and then he 
will touch the heart no more. His composition will become frigid ; it 
will be the language of one who describes, but who does not feel. 

3. We must take notice, that there is a great difference between 
painting to the imagination, and painting to the heart. The one may 
be done coolly and at leisure : the other must always be rapid and ar- 
dent. In the former, art and labour may be suffered to appear ; in the 
latter, no effect can follow, unless it seem to be the work of nature only. 

518. In the sixth place, avoid interweaving any thing of a 
foreign nature with the pathetic part of a discourse. 

Obs. 1. Beware of all digressions, which may interrupt or turn aside 
the natural course of the passion, when once it begins to rise and swell. 

2. Sacrifice all beauties, however bright and showy, which would 
divert the mind from the principal object, and which would amuse the 
imagination, rather than touch the heart. 

3. Hence comparisons are always dangerous, and generally quite 
improper, in the midst of passion. 

4. Beware even of reasoning unseasonably; or at least, of carrying 
on a long and subtile train of reasoning, on occasions when the princi- 
pal aim is to excite warm emotions. 

519. In the last place, never attempt prolonging the pa- 
thetic too much. Warm emotions are too violent to be last- 
ing. Study the proper time of making a retreat ; of making 
a transition from the passionate to the calm tone ; in such a 
manner, however, as to descend without falling, by keeping 
up the same strain of sentiment that was carried on before, 
though now ex pressing it with more moderation. 

Obs. Above all things, beware of straining passion too far ; of at- 
tempting to raise it to unnatural heights. Preserve always a due re- 
gard to what the hearers will bear ; and remember, that he who stops 
not at the proper point ; who attempts to carry them farther, in pas- 
sion, than they will follow him, destroys his whole design. By endeav- 
ouring to warm them too much, he takes the most effectual method of 
freezing them completely. 

520. Concerning the peroration or conclusion, it is 
needless to say much, because it must vary so considerably, 
according to the strain of the preceding discourse. 

0s. 1. Sometimes the whole pathetic part comes in most properly 



Historical Writing, 257 

at the peroration. Sometimes, whefc the discourse has been entirely 
argumentative, it is fit to conclude with summing up the argument*, 
placing them in one view, and leaving the impression of them full and 
strong on the mind of the audience. For the great rule of a conclusion, 
and what nature obviously suggests, is to xi lace that last on which we 
choose that the strength of our cause should rest. 

2. In sermons, inferences from what has been said, make a common 
conclusion. But inferences to rise naturally should so much agree 
with the strain of sentiment throughout the discourse, as not to break 
the unity of the sermon. For inferences, how justly soever they may 
be, deduced from the doctrine of the text, yet have a bad effect, if, at 
the conclusion of a discourse, they introduce some subject altogether 
new, and turn off our attention from the main object to which the 
preacher had directed our thoughts. They appear, in this case, like 
excrescences jutting out from the body, and forming an unnatural ad- 
dition to it ; they tend to enfeeble the impression which the composi- 
tion, as a whole, is calculated to make. 

Scholium. In every discourse, it is a matter of importance to hit the 
precise tira-* of concluding, so as to bring our subject just to a point j 
neither ending abruptly and unexpectedly ; nor disappointing the ex- 
pectation of the hearers, when they look for the close ; and continuing 
to hover round and round the conclusion, till they become heartily tired 
of us. We should endeavour to go off with a good grnce ; not to end 
with a languishing and drawling sentence ; but to close with dignity 
and spirit, that we may leave the minds of the hearers warm ; and 
dismiss them with a favourable impression of the subject and of the 
speaker. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HISTORICAL WIUTIXG. 

521. AS it is the office of an orator to persuade, it is that 
of an historian to record truth for the instruction of man- 
kind. This is the proper object and end of history, from 
which may be deduced many of the laws relating to its com- 
position ; and if this object were always kept in view, it 
would prevent many of the errors into which persons are 
apt to tall concerning this species of composition. 

Obs. As the primary end of history is to record truth, impartiality, 
fidelity, a nd accuracy are the fundamental qualities of an historian. He 
must neither be a panegyrist nor a satirist. He must not enter into 
faction, nor give scope to affection ; but, contemplating past events 
and characters with a cool and dispassionate eye, must present to Ins 
readers a faithful copy of human nature. 

522. Historical composition is understood to comprehend 
under it, annals, memoirs, lives. Bat these are its inferior 
subordinate species, on which we shall hereafter make some 



258 Historical Writing. 

reflections, when we shall have first considered what belongs 
to a regular work of history. Such a work is. chiefly of two 
kinds. Either the entire history of some state or kingdom 
through its different revolutions, such as Livy's Roman His- 
tory ; Hume's History of England ; or the history of some 
one great event, or some portion or period of time which may 
be considered as making a whole by itself j such as Thucy- 
dides's History of the Peloponnesian War, Davila's History 
of the Civil Wars of France, or Clarendon's of those of 
England ; Robertson's History of Charles V. 

Obs. 1. In the conduct and management of his subject, the first at- 
tention requisite in an historian, is to give it as much unity as possible ; 
that is, his history should not consist of separate unconnected parts 
merely, but should be bound together by some connecting principle, 
which shall make on the mind the impression of something that is one, 
whole and entire. 

2. In general histories, which record the affairs of a whole nation or 
empire throughout several ages, this unity will be more imperfect, 
Yet even there, some degree of it can be preserved by a skilful writer. 
For though the whole, taken together, be very complex, yet the great 
constituent parts of it form so many subordinate wholes, when taken 
by themselves ; each of which can be treated both as complete within 
itself, and as connected with what goes before and follows. 

Illus. 1. In the history of a monarch, for instance, every reign should 
have its own unity ; a beginning, a middle, and an end, to the system 
of affairs ; while, at the same time, we are taught to discern how that 
system of affairs rose from the preceding, and how it is inserted into 
what follows. We should be able to trace all the secret links of the 
chain, which binds together remote and seemingly unconnected events. 

2. In some kingdoms of Europe, it was the plan of many successive 
princes to reduce the power of their nobles ; and during several reigns, 
rao«t of the leading actions had a reference to this end. In other 
states, the rising power of the Commons influenced, for a tract of time, 
the course and connection of public affairs. 

3. Among the Romans, the leading principle was a gradual exten- 
sion of conquest, and the attainment of universal empire. The con- 
tinual increase of their power, advancing towards this end from small 
beginnings, and by a sort of regular progressive plan, furnished to 
Livy a happy subject for historical unity, in the midst of a great, vari- 
ety of transactions. 

523. In order to fulfil the end of history, the author must 
study to trace to their springs the actions and events which 
he records. Two things are especially necessary for his do- 
ing thi§ successfully ; a thorough acquaintance with human 
nature, and political knowledge, or acquaintance with gov- 
ernment. The former is necessary to account for the con- 
duct of individuals, and to give just views of their charac- 
ter; the tatter to account for the revolutions of government, 
and the operation of political causes on public affairs. Both 



Historical Writing, 259 

must concur, in order to form a completely instructive his- 
torian. 

524. The first requisites of historical narration, are clear- 
ness, order, and due connection. To attain these, the histo- 
rian must be completely master of his subject; he must see 
the whole as at one view ; and comprehend the chain and de- 
pendence of all its parts, that he may introduce every thing 
in its proper place ; that he may lead us smoothly along the 
tract of affairs which are recorded, and may always give us 
the satisfaction of seeing how one event arises out of another. 
"Without this, there can be neither pleasure nor instruction 
in reading history. 

Obs. Much for this end will depend on the observance of that unity 
in the general plan and conduct, which has already been recommend- 
ed. Much too will depend on the proper management of transitions 
This forms one of the chief ornaments of this kind of writing, and is 
one of the most difficult in execution. Nothing tries an historian's 
abilities more, than so to lay his train beforehand, as to make us pass 
naturally and agreeably from one part of his subject to another ; to 
employ no clumsy and awkward junctures ; and to contrive ways and 
means of forming some union among transactions, which seem to be 
most widely separated from one another. 

525. In the next place, as history is a very dignified spe- 
cies of composition, gravity must always be maintained in 
the narration. There must be no meanness nor vulgarity 
in the style : no quaint, nor colloquial phrases ; no affecta- 
tion of pertness, or of wit. The smart, or the sneering man- 
ner of telling a story, is inconsistent with the historical cha- 
racter. 

Obs. On occasions where a light and ludicrous anecdote is proper 
to be recorded, it is generally better to throw it into a note, than 
to hazard becoming too familiar by introducing it into the body of the 
work. 

526. But an historian may possess these qualities of be- 
ing perspicuous, distinct, and grave, and may notwithstand- 
ing be a dull writer; in which case we shall reap little ben- 
efit from his labours. 

Obs. We shall read him without pleasure ; or, most probably, we 
shall soon give over reading him at all. He must therefore study to 
reader his narration interesting ; which is the quality that chiefly dis- 
tinguishes a writer of genius and eloquence. 

527. Two things are especially conducive to this ; the 
first is, a just medium in the conduct of narration, between 
a rapid or crowded recital of facts, and a prolix detail. The 
former embarrasses and the latter tires us. 

Obs, 1. An historian that would interest us. must know when te be 
23 



g$& Historical Writing*. 

Concise, and where he ought to enlarge j passing concisely 0*$f 
slight and unimportant events, but dwelling on such as are striking and 
considerable in their nature, or pregnant with consequences ; prepare 
ing before hand our attention to them, and bringing them forth into 
the most full and conspicuous light. 

2. The next thing he must attend to, is a proper selection of the cir- 
cumstances belonging to those events which he chooses to relate fully. 
General facts make a slight impression on the mind. It is by means 
of circumstances and particulars properly chosen, that a narration be- 
comes interesting and affecting to the reader. These give life, bodyj, 
and colouring to the recital of facts, and enable us to behold them as 
present, and passing before our eyes-. It is this employment of cir- 
cumstances, in narration, that is properly termed historical painting. 

528. The ancients employed one embellishment of histo- 
ry which the moderns have laid aside, namely, orations, 
which, on weighty occasions, they put into the mouths of 
some of their chief personages. 

Obs. 1. By means of these, they diversified their history j they con- 
veyed both moral and political instruction ; and, by the opposite ar- 
guments which were employed, they gave us a view of the sentiments of 
different parties. 

2. Orations may be an embellishment to history ; such might also 
poetical compositions be, when introduced under the name of some of 
the personages mentioned in the narration, who were known to have 
possessed poetical talents. But neither can the one nor the other find 
a proper place in history. 

3. Instead of inserting formal orations, the method adopted by later 
writers seems better and more natural ; that of the historian, on some 
great occasion, delivering, in his own person, the sentiments and rea- 
sonings of the opposite parties, or the substance of what was under- 
stood to be spoken in some public assembly ; which he may do without 
the liberty of fiction. 

529. The drawing of characters is one of the most splen- 
did, and, at the same time, one of the most difficult orna- 
ments of historical composition. For characters are general- 
ly considered as professed exhibitions of fine writing ; and 
an historian who seeks to shine in them, is frequently in 
danger of carrying refinement to excess, from a desire of ap- 
pearing very profound and penetrating. He brings together 
so many contrasts, and subtile oppositions of qualities, that 
we are rather dazzled with sparkling expressions, than en- 
tertained with any clear conception of a human character. 

06s. A writer who would characterise in an instructive and master- 
ly manner, should be simple in his style, and should avoid all quaint- 
ness and affectation ; at the same time, not contenting himself with 
giving us general outlines only, but descending into those peculiarities 
which mark a character in its most strong and distinctive features. The 
Greek historians sometimes give eulogiums, but rarely draw full and 
professed characters. The two ancient authors who have laboured, 
this part of historical composition most, are Sallust and Tacitus. 



Memoirs. 26 1 

530, As history is a species of writing designed for the 
instruction of mankind, sound morality should always reign 
in it. Both in describing characters, and in relating trans- 
actions, the author should always show himself to be on the 
side of virtue. 

Obs. 1. To deliver moral instruction in a formal manner, falls not 
within his province ; but both as a good man, and as a good writer, 
we expect that he should evince sentiments of respect for virtue, and 
an indignation at flagrant vice. 

2. To appear neutral and indifferent with respect to good and bad 
characters, and to affect a crafty and political, rather than a moral 
turn of thought, will, beside* other bad effects, derogate greatly from 
the weight of historical composition, and will render the strain of it 
much more cold and uninteresting. We are always most interested 
sn the transactions which are relating, when our sympathy is awaken* 
ed by the story, when we become engaged in the fate of the actors. 
But this effect can never be produced by a writer who is deficient in 
sensibility and moral feeling. 

531. Memoirs denote a sort of composition, in which an 
author does not pretend to give full information of all the 
facts respecting the period of which he writes, but only to 
relate what he himself had access to know, or what he was 
concerned in, or what illustrates the conduct of some person, 
or the circumstances of some transaction, which he chooses 
for his subject. 

Obs. 1. From a writer of memoirs, therefore, is not expected the 
same profound research, or enlarged information, as from a writer of 
history. He is not subject to the same laws of unvarying dignity and 
gravity. He may talk freely of himself ; he may descend into the 
most familiar anecdotes. What is chiefly required of him is, that he 
be sprightly and interesting ; and, especially, that he inform us of 
things that are useful and curious ; by conveying to us some sort of 
knowledge worth the acquiring. 

2. This is a species of writing very enticing to such as love to write 
concerning themselves, and conceive every transaction in which they 
had a share, to be of singular importance. There is no wonder, there- 
fore, that a nation so sprightly as the French should, for more than 
two centuries past, have been pouring forth a whole flood of memoirs ; 
the greatest part of which are little better than agreeable trifles. 

3. The memoirs of the Duke of Sully, in the state in which they are 
now given to the public, have great merit, and deserve to be mention- 
ed with particular praise. No memoirs approach more nearly to the 
usefulness, and the dignity of a full authentic history. They have the 
peculiar advantage, of giving us a beautiful display of two of the most 
illustrious characters which history presents ; Sully himself, one of the 
ablest and most incorrupt ministers, and Henry IV. one of the greatest 
and most amiable princes of modern times. Dr Blair says, that he 
knows few books more full of virtue and of good sense, than Sully's 
Memoirs ; few, therefore, more proper to form both the heads and the 
hearts of such as are designed for public business, and action ; in the 
world, ' 



26& Biography. 

532. Biography, of the writing of lives, is a very useful 
kind of composition ; less formal and stately than history ; 
but to the bulk of readers, perhaps, no less instructive ; as it 
affords them the opportunity of seeing the characters and 
tempers, the virtues and failings of eminent men fully 
displayed ; and admits them into a more thorough and inti- 
mate acquaintance with such persons, than history generally 
allows. 

Obs. 1. For a writer of lives may descend, with propriety, into mi- 
nute circumstances, and familiar incidents. It is expected that he 
should give the private, as well as the public life, of the person whose 
actions he records ) nay, it is from private life, from familiar, domes- 
tic, and seemingly trivial occurrences, that we often receive most light 
into the real character. 

2. In this species of writing, Plutarch has no small merit ', and to- 
him we stand indebted for much of the knowledge that we possess, con- 
cerning several of the most eminent personages of antiquity. His 
matter is, indeed, better than his manner ; as be cannot lay claim to 
any peculiar beauty or elegance. His judgment too, and his accuracy, 
have sometimes been taxed ; but whatever defects of this kind he may 
be liable to, his Lives of Eminent Men will always be considered as a 
valuable treasure of instruction. 

3. He is remarkable for being one of the most humane of all the 
writers of antiquity ; less dazzled than many of them are, with the 
exploits of valour and ambition ; and fond of displaying his great 
men to us, in the more gentle lights of retirement and private life. 

533. A very great improvement has, of late years, been 
introduced into historical composition ; namely, a more par- 
ticular attention than was formerly given to laws, customs, 
commerce, religion, literature, and every other subject that 
tends to show the spirit and genius of nations. 

Obs. 1. It is now understood to be the business of an able historian.. 
to exhibit manners, as well as facts and events ; and, assuredly, what- 
ever displays the state and life of mankind, in different periods, and il- 
lustrates the progress of the human mind, is more useful and interest- 
ing than the detail of sieges and battles. 

2. The person, to whom we are most indebted for the introduction 
of this improvement into history, is the celebrated M. Voltaire, whose 
genius has shone with surprising lustre, in many different parts of lit- 
erature. 



Of Philosophical Writing. 2J$| 



CHAPTER VII. 

OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING, DIALOGUE, AND EPISTOLARY 

CORRESPONDENCE, 

534. PHILOSOPHICAL writing. As the professed ob^ 
ject of philosophy is to convey instruction, it is manifest 
that every philosophical writer ought to study the utmost 
perspicuity with respect both to single words, and the con- 
struction of sentences. Beyond mere perspicuity, strict ac- 
curacy and precision are required in a philosophical writer. 
He should employ no words of uncertain meaning, no loose, 
nor indeterminate expressions ; and should avoid u sing- 
words which are seemingly synonymous, without carefully 
attending to the variation which they make upon the idea. 

Tllus. 1. To be clear and precise then, are requisites which we have 
a title to demand from every philosophical writer. He may possess 
these qualities, and be at the same time a very dry writer. He should, 
therefore, study some degree of embellishment, in order to render his 
composition pleasing and graceful. 

2. One of the most agreeable, and one of the most useful embellish- 
ments which a philosopher can employ, consists in illustrations takea 
from historical facts, and the characters of men. All moral and politi- 
cal subjects naturally afford scope for these; and wherever there is 
room for employing them, they seldom fail of producing a happy ef- 
fect. They diversify the composition ; they relieve the mind from the 
fatigue of mere reasoning, and at the same time raise more full convic- 
tion than any reasonings produce : for they take philosophy out of the 
abstract, and give weight to speculation, by shewing its connection 
with real life, and the actions of mankind. 

535. Philosophical writing admits, besides, of a polished, 
a neat, and an elegant style. It admits of metaphors, com- 
parisons, and all the calm figures of speech, by which an au- 
thor may convey his sense to the understanding with clear- 
ness and force, at the same time that he entertains the ima- 
gination. 

O65. He must take great care, however, that all his ornaments be of 
the chastest kind, never partaking of the florid or the tumid ; which 
is so unpardonable in a professed philosopher, that it is much better 
for him to err on the side of naked simplicity, than on thai of too much 
ornament. 

Illus. In English, Locke's celebrated Treatise on Human Under- 
Standing, may be pointed out as a model, on the one hand, of the great- 
est clearness and distinctness of philosophical style, with very little ap- 
proach to ornament ; Lord Shaftsbury's writings, on the other hand, 
exhibit philosophy dressed up with all the ornament which it ears ad- 

23* 



264 Dialogue and Epistolary Writing*- 

mit ; perhaps with more than is perfectly suited to it : Stuarts philo- 
sophical writings are composed with elegance and beauty. 

586. Dialogur writing. Philosophical composition* 
when carried on in the way of dialogue and conversation, 
sometimes assumes a form, under which it mingles more 
with works of taste. 

Obs. Under this form the ancients have given us some of their chief 
philosophical works ; and several of the moderns have endeavoured to 
imitate them. 

lllus. Dialogue writing may be executed in two ways, either as di- 
rect conversation, where none but the speakers appear, which is the 
method that Plato uses ; or as the recital of a conversation, where the 
author himself appears, and gives an account of what passed in dis- 
course ; which is the method that Cicero generally follows. But though 
those different methods make some variation in the form, yet the na- 
ture of the composition is, in its elements, the same in both, and is 
therefore subject to the same laws. 

537. A dialogue in one or other of these forms, on some 
philosophical, moral, or critical subject, when it is well con- 
ducted, stands in a high rank among the works of taste ; but 
is much more difficult in the execution than is commonly 
imagined. For it requires more than merely the introduc- 
tion of different persons speaking in succession. 

Jllus. 1. It ought to be a natural and spirited representation of rear 
conversation ; exhibiting the character and manners of the several 
speakers, and suiting to the character of each that peculiarity of 
Jhought and expression, which distinguishes him from another. 

2. A dialogue, thus conducted, gives the reader a very agreeable en- 
tertainment ; as by means of the debate going on among the persona- 
ges, he receives a fair and full view of both sides of the argument ; and 
is, at the same time, amused with polite conversation, and with a dis- 
play of consistent and well-supported characters. 

Corol. An author, therefore, who has genius for executing such a 
composition after this manner, has it in his power both to instruct and 
to please. 

538. Epistolary writing possesses a kind of middle 
place between the serious and amusing species of composi- 
tion. Epistolary writing appears, at first view, to stretch 
into a very wide field. For there is no subject whatever, 
on which one may not convey his thoughts to the public, in 
the form of a letter. 

Illus. For instance :• Lord Shaftsbury, Mr. Harris, and several other 
writers, have chosen to give this form to philosophical treatises. But 
this is not sufficient to class such treatises under the head of epistolary 
composition. Though they bear, in the title-page, " a letter to a 
friend," after the first address, the friend disappears, and we see that 
it is, in truth, the public with whom the author corresponds. Seneca's 
Epistles are of this sort. There is no probability that they ever passed 
in correspondence as real letters. They are no other than miscellane- 



Epistolary Writing. 265 

ous dissertations on moral subjects ; which the author, for his conven- 
ience, chose to put into the epistolary form. Even where one writes 
a real letter on some formal topic, as of moral or religious consolation 
to a person under distress, such as Sir William Temple has written to 
the Countess of Essex on the death of her daughter, he is at liberty, on 
such an occasion, to write wholly as a divine or as a philosopher, and 
to assume the style and manner of either without reprehension. We 
consider the author not as writing a letter, but as composing a dis- 
course, suited particularly to the circumstances of some one person, 
Russel's histories are in the form of letters. 

539. Epistolary writing becomes a distinct species of com- 
position, subject to the cognizance of criticism, only, or chief- 
ly, when it is of the easy and familiar kind ; when it is con- 
versation carried on upon paper, between two friends at a 
distance. 

Ilius. 1. Such an intercourse, when well conducted, may be render- 
ed very agreeable to readers of taste. If the subject of the letters be 
important, they will be the more valuable. Even though there should 
be nothing very considerable in the subject, yet if the spirit and turn of 
the correspondence be agreeable ; if they be written in a sprightly 
manner, and with native grace and ease, they may still be entertain- 
ing ; more especially if there be any thing to interest us, in the charac- 
ters of those who write them. 

2. Hence the curiosity which the public have always evinced, con- 
cerning the letters of eminent persons. We expect in them to disco- 
ver something of their real character. It is childish indeed to expect, 
that in letters we are to find the whole heart of the author unveiled. 
Concealment and disguise take place, more or less, in all human in- 
tercourse. 

3. But still, as letters from one friend to another make the nearest 
approach to conversation, we may expect to see more of a character 
displayed in these than in other productions, which are designed for 
public view. We are pleased with beholding the writer in a situation 
which allows him to be at his ease, and to give vent occasionally to the 
overflowings of his heart. 

540. Much, therefore, of the merit, and the agreeableness 
of epistolary writing, will depend on its introducing us into 
some acquaintance with the writer. There, if any where> 
we look for the man, not for the author. 

Illus. 1. Its first and fundamental requisite is, to be natural and sim- 
ple ; for a stiff and laboured manner is as bad in a letter, as it is in 
conversation. This does not banish sprightliness and wit. These are 
graceful in letters, just as they are in conversation ; when they flow 
easily, and without being studied ; when employed so as to season, not 
to cloy. One who, either in conversation or in letters, affects to shine 
and to sparkle always, will not please long. 

2. The style of letters should not be too highly polished. It ought 
to be neat and correct, but no more. All nicety about words, betrays 
study; and hence musical periods, and appearances of number and har- 
mony in arrangement, should be carefully avoided in letters. 

3. The best letters are commonly such as the authors have written 



266 Epistolary Writing* 

with most facility. What the heart or the imagination dictates, alwajs 
flows readily ; but where there is no subject to warm or interest these ; 
constraint appears ; and hence, those letters of mere compliment, con- 
gratulation, or affected condolence, which have cost the authors most 
labour in composing, and which, for that reason, they perhaps consider 
as their master-pieces, never fail of being the most disagreeable and 
insipid to the readers. 

4. It ought, at the same time, to be remembered, that the ease and 
simplicity which we have recommended in epistolary correspondence, 
are not to be understood as importing entire carelessness. In writing 
to the most intimate friend, a certain degree of attention, both to the 
subject and the style, is requisite and becoming. It is no more than 
what we owe both to ourselves, and to the friend with whom we cor- 
respond. A slovenly and negligent manner of writing, is a disobliging 
mark of want of respect. The liberty, besides, of writing letters with 
too careless a hand, is apt to betray us into imprudence in what we 
write. 

5. The first requisite, both in conversation and correspondence, is to 
attend to all the proper decorums which our own character, and that 
of others, demand. An imprudent expression in conversation may be 
forgotten and pass away ; but when we take the pen into our hand, we 
must remember, that, " the word which hath been written remains.*" 

Example 1. In our own times, several collections of letters have is- 
sued from the press. Among these, Franklin's correspondence holds 
a most distinguished place. 

2. But of all the letters which this or any country hath produced, the 
most finished, perhaps, are those of Lord Chesterfield. Lady Monta- 
gu's Letters entitle her to rank among authors of a superior class. 

3. The most distinguished collection of letters, however, in the Eng- 
lish Language, is that of Pope, Dean Swift, and their friends ; partly 
published in Pope's works, and partly in those of Dean Swift. 

* Ci Idtera scripta tiianet." 



i®« via* 

POETRY. 



CHAPTER I, 

THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF POETRY, 

54 i. POETRY is the language of passion, or of enliven- 
ed imagination, formed, most commonly, into regular num- 
bers. 

542. The historian, the orator, and the philosopher, ad- 
dress themselves, for the most part, primarily to the under- 
standing : their direct aim is to inform, to persuade, or to in- 
struct. But the primary aim of a poet is to please, and to 
move; and, therefore, it is to the imagination, and the pas- 
sions, that he speaks. 

Illus. 1. He may, and he ought to have it in- his view, to instruct 
and to reform ; but it is indirectly, and by pleasing and moving, that 
he accomplishes this end. His mind is supposed to be animated by 
some interesting object, which fires his imagination, or engages his 
passions ; and which, of course, communicates to his style a peculiar 
elevation suited to his ideas ; very different from that mode of expres- 
sion, which is natural to the mind in its calm and ordinary state. 

2. Yet, though versification be, in general, the exterior distinction of 
poetry, there are some forms of verse so loose and familiar, as to 
be hardly distinguishable from prose ; such as the verse of Terence's 
comedies ; and there is also a species of prose, so measured in its ca- 
dence, and so much raised in its tone, as to approach very near to po- 
etical numbers ; such as the Telemachus of Fenelon, and the English 
translation of Ossian. Dr. Johnson's Rasselas is perhaps of this class 
too. 

3. The truth is, verse and prose, on some occasions, run into one 
another, like light and shade. It is hardly possible to determine the 
exact limit where prose ends, and poetry begins ; nor is there any oc- 
casion for being very precise about the boundaries, as long as the na- 
ture of each is understood. 

543. The Greeks, ever fond of attributing to their own 
nation the invention of all sciences and arts, have ascribed 
(he origin of poetry to Orpheus, Linus, and Musseus. 



S68 Fodty. 

Obs. There were, perhaps, such persons as these, who were the first 
distinguished bards in the Grecian countries. But lor.g b.'fore such 
names were heard of, and among nations where they were never 
known, poetry existed. 

544. It has been often said, and the concurring voice of 
all antiquity affirms, that poetry is older .ban prose. But in 
what sense this seemingly strange paradox holds true, has 
not always been well understood. (See Art. 50. and Illus.) 

Illus. 1. There never, certainly, was any period 01 society in which 
men conversed in poetical numbers. It was in very humble and scan- 
ty prose, as we may easily believe, that the first tribes carried on in- 
tercourse among themselves, relating to the necessities of life. But 
from the very beginning of society, there were occasions on wnich 
they met together for feasts, sacrifices, and public assemblies ', and 
on all such occasions, it is well known, that music, song, and dance, 
their principal entertainment. 

2. It is chiefly in America, that we have had the opportunity of be- 
ing made acquainted with men in their savage state. We learn from 
the particular and concurring accounts of travellers, that, among all 
the nations of that vast continent, especially among the northern tribes, 
with whom we have had most intercourse, music and song are, at all 
their meetings, carried on with an incredible degree of enthusiasm ; 
that the chiefs of the tribe are those who signalize themselves most on 
such occasions ; that it is in songs they celebrate their religious rites ; 
that, by these, they lament their public and private calamities, the 
death of friends, or the loss of warriors; express their joy on their 
victories ; celebrate the great actions of their nation, and their heroes ; 
excite each other to perform great exploits in war, or to suffer death, 
and torments with unshaken constancy. (Art 19. Illus. I.) 

Corol. Here then we see the first beginnings of poetic composition, 
in those rude effusions, which the enthusiasm of fancy or passion sug- 
gested to untaught men, when roused by interesting events, and by 
their meeting together in public assemblies. 

545. Man, by nature, is both a poet, and a musician. The 
same impulse which prompted the enthusiastic poetic style, 
prompted a certain melody, or modulation of sound, suited 
to the emotions of joy or grief, of admiration, love, or anger. 
There is a power in sound, which, partly from nature, part- 
ly from habit and association, makes such pathetic impres- 
sions on the fancy, as delight even the most wild barbarians. 

Corol. Music and poetry, therefore, had the same rise ; they were 
prompted by the same occasions ; they were united in song ; and, as 
long as they continued united, they tended, without doubt, mutually to 
heighten and exalt each other's power. 

546. The first poets sung their own verses: and hence 
the beginning of what we call versification, or words arran- 
ged in a more artful order than prose, so as to be suited to 
gome tune or melody. 

Illus, The liberty of transposition, or inversion, which the poetic 



The Origin and Progras. 269 

* ; tyle would naturally assume, made it easier to form the words into 
some sort of numbers that fell in with the music of the song. Very harsh 
and uncouth, we may easily believe, these numbers would be at first. 
But the pleasure was felt ; it was studied ; and versification, by degrees, 
passed into an art. (Art. 25. Illus.) 

Corol. 1. It appears from what has been said, that the first compo- 
sitions which were either recorded by writing or transmitted by tradi- 
tion, could be no other than poetical compositions. No other but these, 
could draw the attention of men in their rude uncivilized state. In- 
deed they knew no other. 

2. Cool reasoning and plain discourse had no power to attract sav- 
age tribes, addicted only to hunting and war. There was nothing that 
could either rouse the speaker to pour himself forth, or draw the crowd 
to listen, but the high powers of passion, of music, and of song. This 
vehicle, poetry, therefore, and no other, could be employed by chiefs 
and legislators, when they meant to instruct or animate their tribes. 

3. There is, likewise, a farther reason why such compositions only 
could be transmitted to posterity ; because, before writing was invent- 
ed, songs only could last, and be remembered. The ear gave assist- 
ance to the memory, by the help of numbers ; fathers repeated and 
sung them to their children ; and by this oral tradition of national bal* 
lads, were cenveyed all the historical knowledge, and all the instruc- 
tion, of the first ages. 

547. The earliest accounts which history gives us con- 
cerning all nations, bear testimony to these facts. In the 
.first ages of Greece, priests, philosophers, and statesmen, all 
delivered their instructions in poetry. 

Illus. Apollo, Orpheus, and Amphion, their most ancient bards, are 
represented as the first tamers of mankind, the first founders of law 
and civilization. Minos and Thales sung to the lyre the laws which 
they composed* ; and till the age immediately preceding that Hero- 
dotus, history had appeared in no other form than that of poetical tales. 

548. In the same manner, among all other nations, poets 
are the first literary characters, and songs are the first com- 
positions, that make their appearance. (Illus. 2. Art. 544. 
and Art. 21.) 

Illus. Among the Scythian or Gothic nations, many of their kings 
and leaders were scalders, or poets ; and it is from their runic songs, 
that the most early writers of their history, among whom we may 
reckon Saxo-Grammaticus, acknowledged, that they had derived their 
chief information. Among the Celtic tribes, in Gaul, Britain, and 
Ireland, we know, in what admiration their bards were held, and what 
great influence they possessed over the people. They were both po- 
ets and musicians, in each of these countries. They were always near 
the person of the chief or sovereign ; they recorded all his great ex- 
ploits ; they were employed as the ambassadors between contending 
tribes, and their persons were held sacred. 

549. Diversity of climate and of manner of living, hatk 
occasioned some diversity in the strain of the first poetry 

•Str&bo, I. 19. 



Sro Poetry. 

of nations ; chiefly, according as those nations are of* a more 
ferocious, or of a more gentle spirit ; and according as they 
advance faster or slower in the arts of civilization. [Art. 31.) 

Illus. 1. Thus we find all the remains of the ancient Gothic poetry 
remarkably fierce, and breathing nothing but slaughter and blood j 
while the Peruvian and the Chinese songs turned, from the earliest 
times, upon milder subjects. The Celtic poetry, in the days of Ossian, 
though chiefly of the martial kind, yet had attained a considerable 
mixture of tenderness and refinement ; in consequence of the long 
cultivation of poetry among the Celta?, by means of a series and suc- 
cession of bards which had been established for ages. So Lucan in- 
forms us : 

Vos quoque qui fortes animos. belloque peremptos 
Laudibus in longum vates diffunditis aevum 
Plurima securi fudistis carmina bardi.* (L. 44.) 

2. Among the Grecian states, the early poetry appears to have re- 
ceived a philosophical cast, from what we are informed concerning 
the subjects of Orpheus, Linus, and Musaeus, who treated of creation 
and of chaos, of the generation of the world, and of the rise of things ; 
and we know that the Greeks advanced sooner to philosophy, and 
proceeded with a quicker pace in all the arts of refinement, than most 
other nations. 

3. The Arabians and the Persians have always been the greatest 
poets of the East; and among them, as among other people, poetry 
was the earliest vehicle of all their learning and instruction^ 

550. During the infancy of poetry, all the different kinds 
of it lay confused, and were mingled in the same composi- 
tion, according as inclination, enthusiasm, or casual inci- 
dents, directed the poet's strain. 

Illus. 1. Odes and hymns of every sort, would naturally be among 
the first compositions ; according as the bards were moved by reli- 
gious feelings, by exultation, resentment, love, or any other warm 
sentiment, to pour themselves forth in song. 

2. Plaintive or elegiac poetry, would as naturally arise from la- 
mentations over their deceased friends. 

3. The recital of the achievements of their heroes, and their ances- 
tors, gave birth to what we now call epic poetry ; and as, not content 
with symply reciting these, they would infallibly be led. at some of 
their public meetings, to represent them, by introducing different 
bards speaking in the character of their heroes, and anwering each 
other, we find in this the first outlines of tragedy, or dramatic writing 1 . 

551. None of these kinds of poetry, however, were in the 
first ages of society property distinguished or separated, as 
they are now, from each other. Indeed, not only were the 

* You too, ye bards, whom sacred raptures fire, 
To chaunt your heroes to your com try's lyre, 
Who consecrate in your immortal strap 
Brave patriot souls in righteous battle 
Securely now the useful task rene > , 
And noblest themes in deathless soag* pursue. Ranee, 

t Vid. Voyages de Chardin, chap, de la Poe^je des Peraan*. 



Versification. 2fi 

different kinds of poetry then mixed together, but all that 
"we now call letters, or composition of any kind, was then 
blended in one mass. 

Obs. 1. When the progress of society brought on a separation of 
the different arts and professions of civil life, it led also by degrees to 
a separation of the different literary provinces from each other. 

2. The art of writing was in process of time invented ; (Chap V. 
Book I.) records of past transactions began to be kept ; men, occupied 
with the subjects of policy and useful arts, wislied now to be instructed 
and informed, as well as moved. They reasoned and veflected upon 
the affairs of life ; and were interested by what was real, not fabu- 
lous, in past transactions. 

3. The historian, therefore, now laid aside the buskins of poetry ; he 
wrote in prose, and attempted to give a faithful and judicious relation 
of former events. The philosopher addressed himself chiefly to the 
understanding. The orator studied to persuade by reasoning, and re- 
tained more or less of the ancient passionate and glowing style, accor- 
ding as it was conducive to his purpose. (Art. 41. and 42.) 

Carol. Poetry hence became a separate art, calculated chiefly to 
please, and confined generally to such subjects as related to the ima- 
gination and passions. Even its earliest companion, music, was in a 
great measure divided from it. 



CHAPTER II. 

V R RSI F I C ATI O N. 

552. NATIONS, whose language and pronunciation 
rvere of a musical kind, rested their versification chiefly up- 
on the quantities, that is, the length or shortness of their 
syllables. Others, who did not make the quantities of their 
syllables be so distinctly perceived in pronouncing them, 
rested the melody of their verse upon the number of sylla- 
bles which it contained, upon the proper disposition of ac- 
cents and pauses in reciting it, and frequently upon that re- 
turn of corresponding sounds, which we call rhyme. 

Ilb.is. 1. The former was the case with the Greeks and Romans ; 
the latter is the case with us, and with most modern natkms. 

2. Among- the Greeks and Romans, every syllable, or at least by 
far the greatest number of syllables, was known to have a fixed and 
determined quantity ; and their manner of pronouncing rendered 
this so sensible to the ear, that a long syllable was counted precisely 
equal in time to two short ones. 

3. Upon this principle, the number of syllables contained in their 
"hexameter verse, was allowed to vary. It may extend to 1-7; it can 

contain, when regular, no fewei than 13 ; but the musical time waa 

24 



£7% Poetry. 

notwithstanding, precisely the same in every hexameter verse, and 
was always equal to that of 12 long syllables. 

4. In order to ascertain the regular time of every verse, and the 
proper mixture and succession of long and short syllables which 
ought to compose it, what the grammarians cail metrical feet, dac- 
tyles, spondees, iambuses, &c. were invented. By these measures was 
tried the accuracy of composition in every line, and whether it was so 
constructed as to complete its proper melody. 

5. It was requisite, for instance, that the hexameter verse should 
have the quantity of its syllables so disposed, that it could be scanned 
or measured by six metrical feet, which might be either dactyles or 
spondees (as the musical time of both of these is the same,) with this 
restriction only, that the fifth foot was regularly to" be a dactyle, and 
the last a spondee. 

Obs. The genius of our language corresponds not in this respect 
to the Greek or Latin ; yet, in the sequel, it is shewn, that English 
poetry has its feet, though differently formed from the ancient. We 
rest the melody of our verse upon the number of syllables which it 
contains, he. {Art. 552.) 

Feet and Pauses are the constituent Parts of Verse. 
We shall consider these separately. 

OF POETICAL FEET. 

553. A certain number of connected syllables forms a 
foot. These syllables, thus connected, are called feet, be- 
cause it is by their aid that the voice, as it were, steps along 
through the verse, in a measured pace ; and it is necessary 
that the syllables which mark this regular movement of the 
voice, should, in some manner, be distinguished from the 
others. 

IUus. 1. This distinction, we have shewn, (Illvs. 1. Art. 552.) was 
made among the ancient Romans, by dividing their syllables into long 
and short, and ascertaining their quantity, by an exact proportion of 
time in sounding them ; the long being to the short, as two to one ; 
and the long syllables, being thus the more important, marked the 
movement. 

2. In English, syllables are divided into accented and unaccented ; 
(IUus. 1. Art. 552.); and the accented syllables being as strongly 
distinguished from the unaccented, by the peculiar stress of the voice 
upon them, are equally capable of marking the movement, and point- 
ing out the regular paces of the voice, as the long syllables were by 
their quantity, among the Romans. 

554. English feet, formed by an accent on vowels, are 
exactly of the same nature as the ancient feet, and have the 
same just quantity in their syllables. So that, in this re- 
spect, we have all that the ancients had, and something 
which they had not. We have in fact duplicates of each 



Versification. 275 

foot, yet with such a difference, as to fit them for different 
purposes, to be applied at our pleasure. 

Obs. From its nature, every foot has powers peculiar to itself; and 
it is upon the knowledge and right application of these powers, that 
the pleasure and effect of numbers chiefly depend. 

555. All the feet used in poetry consist either of two, or 
of three syllables ; and are reducible to eight kinds; namely, 
four of two syllables, and four of three, as follows : 

DISSYLLABLE. TRISSYLLABLE. 

A Trocheee ~ w A Dactyl ~ u o 

An Iambus o « An Amphibrach o m w 

A Spondee w « An Anapaest u u « 

A Pyrrhic o o A Tribrach o w -> 

556. A Trochee has the first syllable accented, and the 
last unaccented : as, " Hateful, pettish." 

557. An Iambus has the first syllable unaccented, and 
the last accented : as, " Betray, consist." 

558. A Spondee has both the words or syllables accent- 
ed : as, " The pale moon." 

559. A y Pyrrhic has both the words or syllables unaccent- 
ed : as, " On the tall tree." 

560. A Dactyl has the first syllable accented, and the two 
latter unaccented : as, " Labourer, possible." 

561. An Amphibrach has the first and last syllables un- 
accented, and the middle one accented : as, " Delightful, 
domestic." 

562. An Anapeest has the two first syllables unaccented, 
and the last accented : as, " Contravene, acquiesce." 

563. A Tribrach has all its syllables unaccented: as, 
'* Numerable, conquerable." 

Scholium. Some of these feet may be denominated principal feet, as 
pieces of poetry may be wholly, or chiefly formed of any of them. 
Such are the Iambus, Trochee, Dactyl, and Anapaest. The others nun 
be termed secondary feet ; because their chief use is to diversify the 
numbers, and to improve the verse. 

. We shall first explain the Nature of the principal Feet. 

564. Iambic verses may be divided into several species, 
according to the number of feet or syllables of which they 
are composed. 

Example 1. The shortest form of the English Iambic consists of an 
Iambus, with an additional short syllable : as, 

Disdaining, 
Complaining, 
Consenting, 
Repenting, 



2~4 Poetry. 

Obs> We have no poem of this measure, but it may be met with fs 
Lanzas. The Iambus, with this addition, coincides with the Amphi- 
brach. {Art. 561.) : 

Example 2. The second form of our Iambic, is also too short to be 
continued through any great number of lines. It consists of two Iam- 
buses, 

WhSt place is here ! 
What scenes appear J 
To me the rose 
No longer glows, 
ft sometimes takes, or it may take, an additional short syllable : as, 
Upon a mountain 
Beside a fountain. 
Example 3 The third form consists of three Iambuses, 
In place's far 5r near, 
Or famous or obscure, 
Where wholesome is the air, 
Or where the most impure. 
It sometimes admits of an additional short syllable: a«r ? 

Our hearts no longer languish. 
Example 4. The fourth form is made up of four Iambuses, 
And may at last my weary aj;e, 
Find out the peaceful hermitage. 

Example 5. The fifth species of English Iambic, consists of five lam-- 

~>uses, 

How lov'd, hbw vaiii'd once, avails thee not, 
To whom related, or by whom begot : 
A heap of dust alone remains of thee ; 
'Tis all thou art and all the proud shall be. 

Be wise t6-day, 'tis madness to defer; 
Next day the fatal precedent will plead ; 
Thus on, till wisdom is pushed out of life. 

Obs. This is called the heroic measure. In its simplest form it con- 
sists of five Iambuses ; but by the admission of other feet, as Trochees, 
Dactyls. Anapaests, k.e. it is capable of many varieties. Indeed, most 
-of the English common measures may be varied in the same way, as 
well as by the different position of their pauses. 

Example 6. The sixth form of our Iambic, is commonlj'- called the 
Alexandrine measure. It consists of six Iambuses. 

F6r thou art but 5f dust : be humble and be wise. 

The Alexandrine is sometimes introduced into heroic rhyme; and 
when used sparingly, and with judgment, occasions an agreeable va- 
riety. 

Tr,£ ;-eas shall waste, the 1 skies in smoke decay, 
R^cks fall to dust, and mountains melt away; 
But fix'd his word, his saving pow'r remains : 
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns. 

Example 7. The seventh and last form of our Iambic measure, is 
aiade up of seve?i Iambuses. 

TM Lerd descended from above, and bow'd the heav&ns highc 



Versification. £75 

This was anciently written in ors„ iir.e ; but it is now broken into 
two ; the first containing- four feet and the second three ; 

When all thy mercies, O my Gdi ! 

My rising sou! surveys, 
Transported with the view. I'm lost 

In wonder, love, and praise. 

Scholium. In ail these measures, the accents are to be placed on 
even syllables ; and every line considered bv itself, is. in general; more 
melodious, as this rule is more strictly observed. 

505. Trochaic verse is of several kinds. 

Example 1. The shortest Trochaic verse in our language, consists of 
one Trochee and a long syllable. 

Tumult cease 
Sink to peace. 

Obs. This measure is defective in dignity, and can seldom be used 
on serious occasions. 

Example 2. The second English form of the Trochaic consists of 
two feet ; and is likewise so brief, that it is rarely used for any very 
serious purpose. 

On the mountain 
By a fountain. 

It sometimes contains two feet or trochees, with an additional long 
syllable : as. 

In the days of o'd 
Fables plainly told. 

Example 3. The third species consists of three trochees : as, 
When our hearts are mourning : 
or of three trochees, with an additional long syllable ; as, 
Restless mortals toil for nought ; 
Bliss in vain from earth is sought; 
Bliss, a native of the sky, 
Never wanders. Mortals, try ; 
There you cannot seek in vain j 
For to seek her is to gain. 

Example 4. The fourth Trochaic species consists of four trochees: as, 

Round iis roars the tempest loudSr. 
This form may take an additional long syllable, as follows : 

Idle" after dinner in his chair, 
Sat a farmer, ruddy, fat, and fair. 

But this measure is very uncommon. 

Example 5. The fifth Trochaic species is likewise uncommon. It is 
composed of five trochees. 

All that walk on foot or ride In chariots, 
All that dwell in palaces and garrets. 

Example 6. The sixth form of the English Trochaic consists of six 
trochees : as, 

On a mountain, stretch *d bSneath a hoary willow, 
Lay a shepherd swain, and vievv'd the rolling billow. 
24* 



276 Poetry. 

This seems to be the longest Trochaic line that our language admit?. 
Obs. In all these Trochaic measures, the accent is to be placed on 
the odd syllables. 

566. The Dactylic verse being very uncommon, we shall 
give only one example of one species of it : 

From the !&w pleasures of this fallen nature, 
Rise we to higher, &c. 

567. Anapsestic verses are divided into several species. 

Example 1. The shortest anapaestic verse must be a single anapaest . 
as, 

But In vain, 
They complain. 

This measure is, however, ambiguous ; for, by laying the stress of 
the voice on the first and third syllables, we might make it a trochaic. 
And therefore the first and simplest form of our genuine Anapaestic 
verse, is made up of two Anapaests : as, 

But his courage 'pan fail, 

For no arts could avail. 

This form admits of an additional short syllable, 

Then his couiage 'pan fail him, 
For no arts could avail him. 

Example 2. The second species consists of three Anapaests. 

ye woods, spread your branches apace; 
To your deepest recesses I fly ; 

1 would hide with the beasts of the chase j 
I would vanish from every eye. 

This is a very pleasing measure, and much used, both in solemn and 
cheerful subjects. 

Example 3. The third kind of the English Anapaestic, consists of 
four Anapaests. 

May I govern my passions with absolute sway ; 
And grow wiser and better as life wears away. 

This measure will admit of a short syllable at the end ; as, 

On the warm cheek of youth, smiles and roses are blending. 

Obs. The preceding are the different kinds of the principal feet, in 
iheir more simple forms. They are capable of numerous variations, 
by the intermixture of those feet with each other ; and by the admis- 
sion of the secondary feet. 

568. We have observed, that English verse is composed 
»f feet formed by accent, (lllus. 2. Art. 553.) ; and that 
when the accent falls on vowels, the feet are equivalent to 
those formed by quantity. (Art, 554.) 

Example 1. That the student may clearly perceive this difference, 
we shall produce a specimen of each kind. 

O'er heaps of ruins stalk.' d the stately hind. 



Versifkaiioii. 277 

Obs. Here we see the accent is upon the vowel in each second syl- 
lable. (Art. 552) In the following- line, we shall find the same Iam- 
bic movement, but formed by accent on consonants, except the last 
syllable. 

Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down. 

Example 2. Here the time of the short accented syllables, is com- 
pensated by a short pause, at the end of each word to which they be- 
long-. 9 

569. We now proceed to show the manner in which poet- 
ry is varied and improved, by the admission of secondary 
feet into its composition. 

Murmuring, and with hira fled the shades of night. 
Obs. 1. The first loot here is a Dactyl ; the rest are Iambics, 
O'er m2ny %. frozen, mSny a fiery Alp. 

2. This line contains three Amphibrachs mixed with Iambics. 

Innumerable before th' Almighty's throne. 

3. Here, in the second foot, we find a Tribrach. 

See the bold youth strain up the threat'ning steep. 

4. In this line, the first foot is a Trochee ; the second a genuine 
Spondee by quantity ; the third a Spondee by accent. 

5. In the following line, the first foot is a Pyrrhic, the second a 
•Spondee. 

ThSt 5n weak wings from far pursues your flight. 

Scholium. From the preceding view of English versification, we may 
see what a copious stock of materials it possesses. For we are not 
only allowed the use of all the ancient poetic feet, in our heroic mea- 
sure, but we have, as before observed, duplicates of each, agreeing in 
movement, though differing in measure," and which make different 
impressions on the ear ; an opulence peculiar to our language, and 
which may be the source of a boundless variety. 

570. Another essential circumstance in the constitution 
of our verse, is the cxsural pause, which falls towards the 
middle of each line. Some pause of this kind, dictated by 
the melody, is found in the verse of most nations. 

Obs. It is found, as might be shewn, in the Latin hexameter. In 
the French heroic verse, it is very sensible. That is a verse of twelve 
syllables, and in every line, just after the sixth syllable, there falls reg- 
ularly and indispensably, a caesural pause, dividing the line into two 
equal hemistichs. 

Example. Jeune et vaillant heros j| dont la haute sagesse 

N'est point le fruit tardif || d'u'ne Iente vieillesse, 
Qui seul sans ministre || a 1'example des Dieux 
Soutiens tout par toi-meme j| et vois tous par ses veux.i* 

* Movement and measure are thus distinguished. Movement expresses the progress- 
ive order of sounds, whether from strong to weak, from long to short, or vice verta>- 
Measure signifies the proportion of time, both in sounds and pauses. Murrtw. 
t Boikau. 



278 Poetry. 

Analysis. In this train all the French verses proceed ; the one half 
of the line always answering to the other, and the same chime return- 
ing incessantly on the ear without intermission or change ; which is 
certainly a defect in the verse, and unfits it so ver3 T much for the free- 
dom and dignity of heroic poetry. On the other hand, it is a distin- 
guishing advantage of our English verse, that it allows the pause to be 
varied through four different syllables in the line. 

Scholium. The pause may fall after the 4th, the 5th, the 6th, or the 
7th syllable : and according as the pause is placed after one or other 
of these syllables, the melody of the Terse is much changed, its air and 
cadence are diversified. By this means, uncommon richness and va- 
riety are added to English versification. 

571. When the pause falls earliest, that is, after the fourth 
syllable, the briskest melody is thereby formed, and the 
most spirited air given to the line. 

Example. In the following lines cf the Rape of the Lock, Mr. Pope 
lias, with exquisite propriety, suited the construction of the verse to the 
subject : 

On hev white breast ji a sparkling cross she wore, 
Which Jews might kiss || and infidels adore ; 
Her lively looks B a sprightly mind disclose, 
Quick as her eyes j| and as unfixed as those, 
Favours to none || to all she smiles extends, 
Oft she rejects j| but never once offends. 

572. When the pause falls after the fifth syllable, dividing 
the line into two equal portions, the melody is sensibly al- 
tered. The verse loses that brisk and sprightly air, which 
it had with the former pause, and becomes more smooth, gen- 
tle, and flowing. 

Example. Eternal sunshine |j of the spotless mind, 

Each prayer accepted |j and each wish resigned. 

573. When the pause proceeds to follow the sixth sylla- 
ble, the tenor of the music becomes solemn and grave. The 
verse marches now with a more slow and measured pace, 
than in either of the two former cases. 

Example. The wrath of Peleus's son || the direful spring 
Of all die Grecian woes || O goddess sing ! 

574. But the grave solemn cadence becomes still more 
sensible, when the pause falls after the seventh syllable, 
which is the nearest place to the end of the line that it can 
occupy. 

06s. This kind of verse occurs the most seldom, but has a happy ef- 
fect in diversifying the melody. It produces that slow-Alexandrian 
air, which is finely suited to a close ; and for this reason, such lines 
almost never occur together, but are used in finishing the couplet. 

Example. And in the smooth description || murmur still. 
Long loved adored ideas ! ]| all adieu. 

Obs. These examples bave been saken from verses in rhyme ; be- 
cause in these, our versification is subjected to the strictest law. As 



Blank Verse. 9.J9 

blank verse is of a freer kind, and is naturally read with less cadence 
or tone, the pauses in it, and the effect of them, are not always so sen- 
sible to the ear. It is constructed, however, entirely upon the same 
principles, with respect to the place of the pause. 

575. Our blank verse possesses great advantages, and 
is indeed a noble, bold, and disencumbered species of ver- 
sification. The principal defect in rhyme, is the full close 
which it forces upon the ear, at the end of every couplet. 
Blank verse is freed from this, and allows the lines to run 
into each other with as great liberty as the Latin hexameter 
'permits, perhaps with greater. Hence it is particularly 
suited to subjects of dignity and force, which demand more 
free and manly numbers than rhyme. 

Illus. The constraint and strict regularity of rhyme, are unfavour- 
able to the sublime, or to the highly pathetic strain. An epic poem, 
or a tragedy, would be fettered and degraded hy it. It is best adapted 
to compositions of a temperate strain, where no particular vehemence 
is required in the sentiments, nor great sublimity in the style ; such 
as pastorals, elegies, epistles, satires, &c. To these it communicates 
that degree of elevation which is proper for them ; and without any 
other assistance, sufficiently distinguishes the style from prose. He 
Avho should write such poems in blank verse, would render his work 
harsh and unpleasing. In order to support a poetical style, he would 
be ohliged to affect a pomp of language, unsuitable to the subject. 

Scholia 1. The present form of our English heroic rhyme in coup- 
lets, is a modern species of versification. The measure generally used 
in the days of Queen Elizabeth, King James, and King Charles I. was 
the stanza of eight lines, such as Spenser employs, borrowed from the 
Italian ; a measure very constrained and artificial. 

2. Waller was the first who brought couplets into vogue ; and Dry- 
den afterwards established the usage. Waller first smoothed our 
verse ; Dryden perfected it. Pope's versification has a peculiar cha- 
racter. It is flowing and smooth in the highest degree ; far more la- 
boured and correct than that of any who went before him. He intro- 
duced one considerable change into heroic verse, by totally throwing 
aside the triplets, or three lines rhyming together, in which Dryden 
abounded. Dryden's versification, however, has very great merit ; 
and, like all his productions, has much spirit, mixed with carelessness. 
It is not so smooth and correct as Pope's, it is, however, more varied 
and easy. He subjects himself less to the rule of closing the sense 
with a couplet ; and frequently takes the liberty of making his couplets 
run into one another, with somewhat of the freedom o: blank verse. 
If any one, after reading Pope's Rape of the Lock, or Eloisa to Abe- 
lard, shall not admit our rhyme, with all its varieties of pauses, to car- 
ry both elegance and sweetness of sound } his ear must be pronounced 
to be of a very peculiar kind. 



280 Pastoral Poetry. 



CHAPTER III. 

OF PASTORAL POETRY. 

576. THE object of Pastoral Poetry is to delight the im- 
agination with descriptions of the beauties of nature, and of 
human life spent in the midst of these beauties, the persons 
possessing health, sensibility, and innocence, and undisturb- 
ed by the anxieties and cares of business and activity. 

Obs. 1. The simple recapitulation of the principal objects of which 
such descriptions consist, communicates pleasing and exhilarating 
emotions. Zephyrs whispering through the trees and woods ; rivulets 
gliding along their mossy banks ; birds chaunting their lively notes ; 
shepherds playing on their rural pipes ; lambkins skipping after their 
dams ; and the shepherdesses listening to the enchanting lays of 
their amorous swains. 

2. The survey of pictures of innocence and happiness cannot fail to 
be agreeable, if the reader can be convinced of their reality. But, as 
he finds such descriptions continually falsified by experience, the poet 
artfully lays the scenes of his pastorals in remote places and ages, 
when, it is supposed, human life was less corrupted, and when shep- 
herds and shepherdesses retained more refined sentiments, and more 
elevated rank, than persons of that character in modern times. If we 
wish to survey rural felicity in perfection, we must suppose ourselves 
transplanted into Sicily or Arcadia, where the pastoral life appeared 
in perfection, and where nature lavished all her stores to render the 
shepherd happy. 

577. It is not sufficient, however, that the face of nature 
be lively and gay, the picture, to interest, must be animated 
with sentiment. 

Illus. The shepherd must discover anxiety to obtain some object of 
importance to his happiness, or he must solace himself with the pos- 
session of it. He may signify his regret for the absence of a mistress 
or a friend ; he may indulge in the hope to recover their society ; he 
may sympathise with their misfortunes, or rejoice at their prosperity. 
But no violent feeling must be excited ; no deep distress, or pungent 
sorrow must appear, which would produce vexation in the mind of the 
reader, because such a feeling would interfere with the gaiety and 
pleasant emotions naturally prompted by this kind of composition. 

578. Attention also must be bestowed to preserve the 
pastoral character both in sentiment and in action. 

Illus. The shepherds must not appear too learned or refined in their 
notions ; neither must they display rudeness, cruelty, or indecency in 
their manners or words. Good sense, sensibility, observation of the 
striking beauties of nature, conjoined with simplicity and innocence, 
are the qualifications they must chiefly display. 



Pastoral Poetry. 281 

579. A similar regard must be paid to local character, and 
national circumstances. 

Illus. The British swain must not offer sacrifice to Pan, nor defend 
his flock against the lion and the wolf; he may, however, believe in 
the existence of invisible spirits or incantations, or fortify his lambs 
against the hound and the fox. In a word, the pastoral poet may in- 
dulge in every supposition which may render his pictures more beau- 
tiful, interesting, or sentimental : but he must not push his demands 
too far, nor shock the faith of his reader ; he must not ask him to be- 
lieve what is inconsistent or incredible. 

580. Theocritus is the most early writer of pastorals, 
His works have descended to posterity, and he has been im- 
itated by all his successors, particularly by Virgil. 

Obs. 1. Theocritus was an inhabitant of Syracuse, in Sicily, about 
the time of Alexander the Great, and he has laid the scenes of all his 
poems in that delightful island. He paints nature, and delineates the 
sentiments and actions of his shepherds with great address. No pas- 
toral writer has been more happy in striking the due medium between 
refinement and rudeness ; and the use he makes of the Doric dialect, 
so admirably suited to the rusticity and simplicity of his characters, is 
none of the least marks of his merit. 

2. Virgil succeeds Theocritus both in time and merit. Several of 
his pastorals are finished with good taste, simplicity, and propriety. 
No writer excels him in painting delicate sentiment, for which this 
kind of composition affords frequent opportunity. 

Example i. Nothing can be more simple and natural than the fol- 
lowing lines : 

" Tityre, dum redeo, hrevis est via, pasce capellaf : 

Et potum pastas age, Tityre ; et inter agendum , 

Occursare capro, cornu ferit ille, caveto." 

Example 2. Again : 

" Hie gelidi fontes : hie mollia pvata, Lycori : 

Hie nemus : hie ipso tecum consumerer sevo." 
" Parta meae veneri sunt munera ; namque notavi 

Ipse locum, aerise quo congessere palumbes." 

Example 3. The two last lines are beautifully translated and im- 
proved by Shenstone : 

" I have found out a gift for rny fair, 
I have found where the wood-pgieons breed: 
But let me the plunder forbear, 
She will say 'twas a barbarous deed." 

Obs. 3. Not above the half, however, of ten eclogues, which Virgil 
has left, can properly be said to deserve the name of pastoral. Seve- 
ral of them, particularly the first and ninth, have little of that charac- 
ter. The third, fifth, seventh, and eighth only, can be said to belong 
strictly to this species of poetry ; and though even in them the senti- 
ments are sometimes too refined, yet they are nc-er quaint or affected. 

4. Pope has imitated, and almost translated, Theocritus and Virgil. 
His pastorals, accordingly, have little merit, but that of the versifica- 
tion. He has scarcely ventured to advance a single sentiment, of 
which he had not received a hint from the Sicilian or Roman poet, 
The subsequent examples will illustrate this remark. 



$$& Pastoral Poetry. 

Example 1. Virgil, with much simplicity, expresses -a beautiful seia- 
timent in the following lines : 

" Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella, 
Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri." 

Example 2. Pope diminishes the effect of this thought, by adding to 
k-an air of prettiness and conceit. 

" The sprightly Sylvia trips along the green, 
She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen, 
"While a kind glance at her pursuer flies, 
How much at variance are her feet and eyes !" 

Scholium. Pope wrote his pastorals when very young, which fur- 
nishes a good apology for their defects. 

581. Among all the various poets, ancient or modern, 
who have attempted pastorals, Shenstone is entitled to the 
greatest praise. Neither Theocritus nor Virgil is, perhaps, 
to be compared with him, in combining the capital requisites 
of this kind of writing ; for no author in this line has irilro- 
duced with more success whatever is simple, tender, and 
delicate. 

Obs. Even Shenstone's own works in this line are not equally merito- 
rious. He degenerates sometimes into flatness and insipidity; but. no 
language can furnish a performance of its kind superior to his pasto- 
ral ballad, in four parts, on Absence, Hope, Solitude, and Disappoint- 
ment. No quaintness, no affectation, no false refinement, no indelica- 
cy ; all is nature, innocence, and elegance. The whole poem de- 
serves high praise : as a short specimen, we shall present the follow- 
ing lines, from the part denominated Hope. 

" One would think she might like to retire 
To the bower I had labour'd to rear ; 
Not a shrub that I heard her admire, 
But 1 hasted and planted it there. 
Oh ! how sudden the jessamine strove 
With the lilac, to render it gay ; 
Air ad y it calls for my love, 
To prune the wild branches away. 
I have found out a gift for my fair, \ 

I have found where the wood-pigeons breed ; 
But let me the plunder forbear. 
She will say 'twas-a barbarous deed : 
For he ne'er could be true, she averr'd, 
Who could rob a poor bird of its young ; 
And I lov'd her the more when 1 heard 
Such tenderness fall from her tongue." 

582. The favourable reception which pastoral poetry has 
obtained from all polished nations, and the picture it is sup- 
pose! to exhibit of the happy but fabulous times of the gold- 
en age, have projnapted some eminent authors to attempt to 
improve it. They have retained the pastoral characters, 
occupations, and manners, and to these have added import- 
ance and .interest, by moulding them into a beautiful and 
picturesque sentimental comedy. As a farther enhance- 



Pastoral Poetry. 283 

mei'.t of its merit, they have made music contribute liberal- 
ly to adorn it, and have introduced a number of tender cha 
racteristic songs, in which the shepherds and shepherdesses 
signify to one another their hopes and wishes, accompanied 
with correspondent airs of melody. 

Obs. 1. Few entertainments can present an assemblage of so many 
captivating- objects, beautiful pictures of nature ; the charms of music, 
which touch the heart; characters pleased, cheerful, and happy, en- 
gaged in those simple cares and attachments, which occupy human 
life, without fatiguing- it; and which, being dictated by innocence and 
restrained by virtue, gently agitate, without distracting the mind. At- 
tempts of merit of this sort have accordingly been honoured with the 
warmest approbation. 

2. Italy furnishes two eminent specimens, which all Europe has read 
and admired. The Amynta of Tasso, and Pastor Fido of Guarini. 
Both display vivid pictures of nature, and of rural manners. The fables 
-are interesting, and happily conducted ; the characters are thrown 
into many delicate and tender situations. Many of the scenes are 
beautiful, and wrought xip with so much sensibility, that the reader 
receives a very exquisite amusement. 

583. The Gentle Shepherd, a Scottish pastoral comedy, 
of Allan Ramsay, is admired by every reader of taste and 
genius. The author has exerted much pains to avoid the 
reprehensible qualities of his two rivals, and every candid 
critic must allow that he has .been successful. 

Qbs. 1. That he might suggest an apology for the greater liberality 
of sentiment which he has ventured to throw into the characters of 
his principal shepherd and shepherdess, he has supposed them to in- 
herit a genius superior to their station, communicated from their pa- 
rents, who possessed a more elevated rank, but who, from political 
misfortunes, were obliged to permit their children to be educated m 
concealment and obscurity. 

2. In every other view, his pastoral is entitled to much praise. The 
fable is well conceived, naturally and regularly conducted. The cha- 
racters are distinctly marked : they ate numerous, and properly varied. 
Their occupations, sentiments, manners, are all the most picturesque, 
local, and characteristic, that can be supposed. Simplicity, innocence, 
cheerfulness, rustic sports and merriment, rude prejudices, opinions, 
and fears, are beautifully and pertinently interspersed. The situations 
of the principal characters are delicate and interesting, and deeply 
engage the attention of the reader. The'' great change of fortune, and 
the consequent happiness -they enjoy from the accidental discovery of 
their birth and opulence in the course of the action, terminate the per- 
formance, by suggesting the most pleasing and satisfactory frame of 
mind, the reader could wish to possess. The music is national, ten- 
der, simple, and the diction is perfectly suited to the characters. It is 
finished in the true Doric taste, soft and expressive, neither too refin- 
ed, nor too gross and unpolished. 

3. Dr. Blair was the first who prejudiced the public taste against the 
Gentle Shepherd. Barron has followed him in this, as, indeed, in al- 
most every other thing the doctor said. But let it be observed, thai 






284 Lyric Poetry. 

the Gentle Shepherd is a national pastoral ; the locality of its mannefs 
and language, make it such ; they constitute its chief ingredients of 
national merit ; they increase its interest by circumscribing its repu- 
tation among the people for whom it was written. " Had its manners 
been general, its language pure English, and its scenes Arcadian, it 
would have had less characteristic beauty, but it might have merited 
the applause of Europe.*" Indeed ! There are hills and dales, woods 
and streams, and sentient natures, in Britain ; and Arcadia could 
boast no more. At all events, there is one national pastoral in the 
world ; or, in other words, the glory of this species of poetry hath not 
lalleu with the genius of Greece. 

584. Of all the moderns, M. Gessner, a poet of Switzer- 
land, has been the most successful in his pastoral composi- 
tions. He has introduced into his Idylls (as he entitles 
them) many new ideas. His rural scenery is often striking, 
and his descriptions are lively. 

Obs. He presents pastoral life to us, with all the embellishments of 
which it is susceptible ; but without any excess of refinement. What 
forms the chief merit of this poet, is, that he writes to the heart ; and 
lie has enriched the subject of his Idylls with incidents which give 
rise to much tender sentiment. Scenes of domestic felicity are beauti- 
fully painted. The mutual affection of husbands and wives, of parents 
and children, of brothers and sisters, as well as of lovers, are display- 
ed in a pleasing and touching manner. 



CHAPTER IV 



LYRIC POETRY, 



3S5. LYRIC poetry, to which we now proceed, inclu- 
ded, in ancient times, every poetical composition accompa- 
nied with music, whether of the voice or of instruments. 

Was. 1. It was called lyric, from the lyre, with which it was com- 
monly attended ; and it acquired the name of ode, because it was also 
designed to be sang. It is a short, occasional, animated effort of genius. 

2. The author may assume an\ tone he chooses; he may be sub- 
lime, familiar, gay, serious, passionate, moral, tender, or witty, with 
equal propriety, and he may even intermix several of these strains in 
the same poem. 

3. Panegyric, however, is the principal field it has occupied in all 
ages ; for the praises of the geds, and of heroes, have furnished more 
odes than a!! other subjects put together. 

Example 1. The Psalms oi David were lyric productions, and were 
sung in the celebration of the Jewish worship. 

2. The Odes of Pindar were composed in praise of the gods, or he- 
roes, or victors in the games of Greece. 

3. Some of those of Horace are dedicated to the honour of the gods, 
ethers form elegant complimentary addresses to his country, to eml- 
nent v individuals, or to friends. - 

* Blair. 



Lyric Poetry. 



>85 



®hs Modern times have not been so prolific in this species of com- 
position, as those of antiquity ; they are not, however, destitute ot 
some very conspicuous specimens. 

586. Lyric poetry is susceptible of different ornaments, 
suitable to the nature of. the subjects it treats. It admits 
sometimes the boldest and warmest figures of imagination 
and passion ; at other times, it delights in the playful and 
pleasant images of fancy and feeling. Sometimes the ex- 
pression is ardent, concise, and vehement • at other times, 
it is simple and diffuse ; but at all times, it must be pure, 
picturesque, and correct. 

Obs. 1. The style should be more finished, perhaps, than that of any 
other species of poetry ; for the attention of the reader is neither pow- 
erfully nor long diverted by the sentiment. He soon turns it toward 
the expression ; and he is so scrupulous, that he will not excuse the 
slightest impropriety. The capital characteristics of the ode, then, are 
magnificence, or passion or ingenuity in the thought, and perfect ele- 
gance in the style. 

2. Greece has left some conspicuous monuments of lyric composi- 
tion, in the odes of Pindar, Sappho, and Anacreon ; the first remark- 
able for vehemence and sublimity ; the two last for sensibility, plea- 
santry, and vivacity. 

3. Horace is the only Roman poet of the lyric tribe whose works 
have descended to modern times ; and, it seems, we have little reason 
to regret the loss of the rest, for, if we may rely on the opinion of 
Quinctilian, Horace alone merited immortality. 

587. No modern poets have composed volumes of odes 
like Pindar and Horace, but many of them have occasional- 
ly attempted this species of composition. The chief of these 
in English are Dryden, Pope, Addison, Gray, and Akenside. 

Obs. 1. The first three are distinguished by their odes to St. Cecilia, 
in praise of the powers of music ; the subjects of the last two are mis- 
cellaneous. As the first three have attempted successively to adorn the 
same theme, it affords a good opportunity of comparing their merits. 

2. Alexander's Feast, by Dryden, has gained universal fame, and it 
seems to deserve all the reputation it has attained. It is difficult to 
decide whether the sentiments or the composition merit the most 
praise. The sentiments are admirably suited to the personages whom 
they describe, and the composition is fitted with equal propriety to the 
sentiments. The sentiments are artfully contrasted, a circumstance 
which, added to their natural excellence, displays them in the mosc 
captivating light. 

3. A train of-grand and sublime thoughts is succeeded by a series of 
gay and pleasant ones ; a set of ouir; geous nr<(\ furious conceptions, is 
contrasted with a group of gentle and tender ones. The poet shakes 
the spheres with Jupiter, revels with Bacchus, raves and destroys with 
the furies, and drops a tear with ids iiero over the misfortunes of Da- 
lies. 

4. Pope has attempted, in his ode iti honour of St. Cecilia, the in- 
ventress of the organ, to introduce different passions, and to contrast 



286» Didactic Poetry. 

both the sentiments and the versification, as had been done by ©rytfe» 
He has very happily selected for his subject the fable of Orpheus and 
Curydice, a story naturally tender and pathetic, of which the reverse 
©f fortune is great, and the different parts are strongly opposed, 

5. Addison was fond of the fame of a poet, though he enjoyed not 
the best powers for acquiring it. He wished, it is said, to rival Pope 
as a translator of Homer ; he even wished to rival him in lyric merit. 
He ventured to appear on the same ground which Pope and Dryden 
had occupied with so much lustre ; and his ode to St. Cecilia exhibit- 
ed him in a contrast which could not fail to hurt his reputation ; fof of 
all the poetry which Addison has written, he has scarcely composed 
any thing so indifferent as this ode. 

6. The oclss of Gray are entitled to high praise, though they are un- 
equal in their merit, which is also the fate of different stanzas of the 
same ode. His sentiments are conceived with great vigour and pro- 
priety, and his versification is the most laboured, perhaps, in the Eng- 
lish language. He frequently attempts the Pindaric magnificence and 
sublimity, and he never fails to appropriate some of its darkness and 
obscurity. 

7. Akenside aims at ease, ingenuity, and elegance^ and he is not un- 
successful. His imagination is delicate and picturesque, his versifica- 
tion is smooth and melodious. He is not defective in sentiment, and 
in ornament he has a claim to high applause. 



CHAPTER V. 

DIDACTIC POETRY, 

338. DIDACTIC poetry discusses some branch of useful 
science, some beneficial art, or some system of prudential or 
moral conduct, by which the reader may improve his know- 
ledge, his wisdom, or his virtue ; and it recommends the 
discussion by all the merits of imagination, and all the 
charms of poetical composition. 

Illus. 1. In executing (he useful part of the task, it collects all the 
best theories- and most approved practices, and arranges them, with 
the reasons of them, in that distinct and lucid order in which they are 
most likely to make the deepest impression. It sometimes adds the 
most sagacious reflections, pleasant speculations, or important disco- 
veries, which have resulted from the research or the ingenuity of the 
author. It condescends also to recapitulate and expose vulgar or ir- 
rational principles and practices; which have derived their origm 
from a necessity, perhaps, that no longer exists, or which remain fos- 
tered and cherished by prejudice or by ignorance. 

2. In executing the ornamental parts, it illustrates every theory and 
practice with simplicity and vivacity ; but that the familiarity or the 
lowliness of the topics of which it must sometimes treat, may not of- 
fend the nicest reader^ it. is extremely solicitous to add dignity to the 
illustration bv the use of figurative and descriptive phraseology. U 



Didactic Poetry. 

seldom calls common objects by their proper names. It employs ele- 
vated and metaphorical appellations, or it describes them by their 
capses or their effects. It bestows much attention to enliven its de- 
scriptions and scenes, by throwing into them all the animation with 
'.hi- ?i they are any way connected. Many of the inanimate objects 
are personified ; all the irrational animals are endued with character, 
•sentiment, and design ; the human actors are rendered respectable by 
iUe activity and virtue of their lives, the sagacity of their judgments, 
the utility of their occupations ; or they are held up as objects of aver- 
sion, that the reader may learn, from their folly, absurdity or crimin- 
ality, to avoid that conduct which has rendered them ridiculous, odious, 
or unhappy. 

3. But the great ornaments of didactic poetry are beautiful or inter- 
esting episodes. To vary and adorn his subject, the author is allowed 
frequently to shift the scene, and to introduce any moral, philosophi- 
cal, or sentimental relation or discussion with which it is c onT >ected. 
No other species of poetry admits so much latitude in this article. If 
the episodes are properly varied in length, and if they are not very vio- 
lently forced into his service, the author will not incur much reprehen 
sion, though he often depart from his principal subject, and though 
the sum of the episodes, taken together, even exceed in extent the di- 
dactic part of the poem. 

4. Through the whole of his poem, the author may di** lay much 
knowledge of the particular subject he treats, and of many other use 
fill and ornamental sciences and arts ; much acquaintance with nature, 
society, manners, and the human heart. He may be grave, gay, sub- 
lime, easy, austere, pathetic, as shall best suit his genius and his mat- 
ter. The versification must be always correct and melodious ; and it 
may be elevated occasionally to a high degree of energy and dignity. 
it is also susceptible of every ornament, addressed to the imagination 
or the passions, of which the different topics or episodes admit. Met- 
aphors, comparisons, personifications, apostrophes, may all be inciden- 
tally introduced ; and if they are pertinently applied, their appearance 
will add grace and interest to the composition. 

Scholia 1. When this species of poetry promises so much improve- 
ment and entertainment to the reader, and when the author possesses 
so many favourable opportunities of displaying his knowledge, his 
genius, and his taste, we will not be surprised that it has been attempt- 
ed by poets of high fame in different ages. Aratus discussed in Greek 
the phenomena of the heavens, and Lucretius in Latin the philosophy 
of Epicurus. Virgil has treated the whole theory and practice of ag- 
riculture, and Armstrong the art of preserving health. The writers on 
'morals aud manners are mostly satirical ; yet Pope has avoided satir- 
i:m in his elegant system of morals in the Essay on Man. The capital 
satirists, ancient and modern, are Horace, Juvenal, Pope, and Young. 

2. Armstrong possessed a large portion of the genius of Virgil, and, 
like him, has adorned the history of health, a subject naturally un- 
promising, wkh all the embellishment of fine versification and elegant 
fancy. He elevates and beautifies every precept, and he is fortunate 
in episodes. The true spirit of poetry is conspicuous in all he writes?, 
and his compositions cannot be perused without instruction and plea- 
sure. He appears to be one of the best didactic poets in the English 
language, and not inferior to any ancient author in the same line, ex- 
cept Virgil, 

2o< 



288 Didactic Poetry. 

3. The Essay on Man admitted fewer embellishments and episodes 
than the poems which we have mentioned. The author's design was 
more serious than that of any other writer of his class. Instruction 
was his main object, and no ornaments are introduced but what are 
manifestly subservient to this end. He employs metaphors frequent- 
ly, and sometimes comparisons, but they are never mere addresses to ' 
the fancy of the reader, they always contribute to illustrate and im- 
press the matter. 

4. This famous essay is literally a system of morals, founded on the 
celebrated doctrine first broached by Plato, and afterwards explained 
and recommended by Leibnitz and Lord Shaftsbury, that no evil is 
admitted into the system of nature but what is inseparable from its ex- 
istence ; and that all possible provision is made for the happiness of 
every creature it contains. The author acknowledges that tha gravity 
of his subject was more adapted to a discussion in prose, than a trea- 
tise in verse, but that he preferred the latter, because it was more 
adapted to his genius, and was more likely to engage the attention and 
recollection of the reader. 

5. The discussion is ingenious and instructive We, however, de- 
siderate that distinct and lucid arrangement which we discern in the 
productions of the other two eminent moderns. Neither has the ver- 
sification all the merits which shine in his other works ; it is frequent- 
ly abrupt, if not obscure, and possesses not the melody and flow of his 
other poetry. The abstract nature of the subject, perhaps, and his 
sincere desire to instruct, rather than to please, may furnish an apol- 
ogy- 

589. Satirists are a species of negative didactic poets, 
who teach and amuse bj censuring what is wrong, and ex- 
posing what is foolish. They seldom attempt to inculcate 
positively what is good, or to recommend what is decent ; 
they leave this task to moralists and public instructors. 
They would be most reputable and useful writers, were 
they successful in what they undertake, to banish iniquity 
and folly from society. They are divided into two classes. 

Mas. 1. One class attacks immorality and impropriety with a stern 
look aud severe reprehension. It paints them in all their deformity 
as objects of aversion, and it fails not to inflict upon them that censure 
which they deserve. It allows few of those excuses and alleviations 
which are usually urged for the errors of men. It delineates them as 
bad as they really are. and is sometimes inclined rather to exaggerate 
than to apologise. It wishes to deter mankind from vicious or foolish 
actions or sentiments, by the cdium, the misery, the disapprobation* 
which attend them. 

2. The other class assaults vice and folly with ridicule. It exposes 
the whims, the oddities, the absurdities, and the crimes of men, in such 
a manner as to make them ashamed. But if ridicule does not succeed, 
$t relinquishes them as incorrigible. An author of this class is never 
angry, he is never even serious. When a crime should rouse the re- 
sentment of the former class, and draw from them severe chastise- 
ment, they remain unmoved, and smile at the culprit as a fool. Hor- 
ace altogether, and Pope in some measure, are satirists of the latter 
vlass ) Juvenal and Young belong to the former. 



BidacLk Poetry. £89 

8. Horace was an epicurean in philosophy, and, Recording to the 
principles of that indolent sect, seems to have adopter! a ride oi con- 
duct, that nothing- should ruffle his temper, tie appears to have 'con- 
sidered the vices of his countrymen as not deserving- his resentment ; 
or to have heen of opinion that reprehension was not the way to re- 
form them. He accordingly never discomposes himself when he men- 
tions them. 

4. Juvenal is a grave, severe satirist, and a stern censor of the errors 
and follies of mankind. He never condescends to smile, or to insinu- 
ate improprieties without reprehending them. He seems to consider 
ceremony and politeness as marks of insincerity, and as trifling with 
the evil, instead of attempting a radical cure. He seldom takes no- 
tice of folly, but, when he docs, he touches her airy and volatile form 
with a firm and rough hand. He thinks her deserving of more serious 
treatment than to laugh at her, because she may be either the compan- 
ion or the parent of iniquity. He displays, at the same time, much 
good sense, much knowledge -of the world, and a great share of the 
faculty of imagination. 

5. Pope attempts to unite the good humour of Horace with the 
gravity of Juvenal, but he leans more Jo the manner o.f the latter, than 
to that of the former. He was naturally of a keen temper, and 
particularly irritable by reflections which glanced either at his private 
character or his fame. Many of his satirical writings were prompted 
by this spirit ; and we regret that a man of his genius should have 
wasted his time, and disturbed his repose, by retaliating on critics ani- 
mated by a degree of ignorance or folly which rendered them con- 
temptible. 

6. Young has much merit as a satirist. He is not. so severe as Ju- 
venal, though he is always in earnest, and never attempts to excite a 
laugh. He appears as a sincere moralist, zealous to correct the vices 
and follies of mankind, by holding up pictures to excite their reflection 
on the impropriety of their errors. His Love of Fame displays much 
knowledge of human nature, and no small merit in point of versifica- 
tion. He is a satirist whom we love and respect, because we conceive 
him to be actuated by good nature, and backward to reprehend, were 
it possible to reform by more gentle means. He possesses neither the 
sprightliness of Horace, nor the vehemence of Juvenal, but he is more 
dignified than the former, and more amiable than the latter. He is 
not so facetious and pleasant as Horace, but neither is he so sour and 
forbidding as Juvenal. Horace seems to iiave consulted his own 
amusement, and Juvenal the gratification of his spleen, as much as 
the entertainment or emolument of their readers. Young writes to 
improve mankind, and, with the regard and affection of a parent, 
chastises only that he may amend. Though we wish he had more 
mirth, yet we respect him as an useful author, and a genuine friend e-i" 
virtue. 



290 Descriptive Poetry. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DESCRIPTIVE POETRY. 

590. DESCRIPTIVE poetry is addressed chiefly to the 
imagination, though it attempts also to convey many useful 
Impressions to the understanding and the heart. 

Obs. The design of it is to exhibit beautiful pictures of nature or art. 
so as to communicate all the information ami pleasure which the read- 
er could receive from an actual survey of the objects. Jt sometimes 
presents large collections of objects, as those which occur in one period 
of the year, or those which readily present themselves when the mind is 
in a particular frame, lively and gay, or disconsolate and dejected. 

Illus. 1. Of the former kind are the Seasons of Thomson; of the 
latter kind are the Allegro and Penseroso of Milton. But the greater 
part of descriptive poetry is intermixed with other kinds of poetical 
composition ; and there is no kind, whether epic, dramatic, didactic, 
pastoral, or lyric, that does not occasionally demand its assistance. 

2. Though all poets attempt to describe, and all men are endowed 
more or less with the power of forming pictures of what they_have 
seen or imagined, yet the faculty which produces good description is 
extremely rare ; it requires an uncommon portion of vivacity and 
vigour of imagination, and a large share of judgment. The former 
suggests the circumstances which the picture demands, and the latter 
selects those which are best calculated for making the deepest impres- 
sion. 

591. In description, the great art seems to be, not to spe- 
cify every minute particular, but to select the most striking 
and picturesque circumstances, which would naturally make 
the deepest impression on the mind of the beholder. 

Example. The following quotation will best illustrate this rule. It 
is a picture, by Thomson, of an infectious distemper, which happened 
to the fleet in the memorable expedition against Carthageaa. 

" — You, gallant Vemon, saw 

The miserable scene. You pitying saw 
To infant weakness sunk the Warrior's arm ; 
Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, 
The pale lip quivering, and the beamless eye 
No more with ardour bright ! You heard the groans 
Of agonising ships from shore to shore ! 
Heard nightly plung'd amid the sullen wave 
The frequent corse ; while on each other fix'd 
In sad presage, th<=- blank assistants seero'd 
Silent, to ask whom fate would next demand !'* 

Analysis. It is unnecessary to offer any comment on this beautiful 
description ; every reader must feel its force. The frequent plunging 
of the corse in the sullen wave during the night, is particulurly stri- 
king, and marks strongly the havoc or the infection. 

Obs. 1. Almost the whole merit of Ihomson's genius consisted in 
description. He possessed little influence over the stronger passions, 



Descriptive Poetry. £Q1 



though some episodes in th-^ Seasons, and scenes in his plays, discover 
h capacity for managing i. Under and moderate passion. His plays 
are elegant and correct compositions ; they contain many noble and 
virtuous sentiments, but they are sparing oi" incidents, and they 
abound with declamation. 

2. Had Milton studied nature with as much attention as Thomson, 
he would probably have f xcelled all poets in the liveliness and beauty 
of his descriptions. All his works shine with the richness of his ima- 
gination. He is uncommonly happy in the selection of the most, per- 
tinent circumstances, and in the use of the most significant figures, 
particularly metaphors, which demonstrate the exquisite sensibility of 
his fancy. 

3. He seems, however, to have taken a general survey of nature, 
rather than to have attended minutely to her particular operations. 
He never dwells long on a topic in description, and he rather glances 
at it than delineates it. But no author surpasses him in selecting the 
most prominent and picturesque ingredients of a figure which make 
the deepest impression. He is never general or diffuse, qualities which 
are found to be very hostile to the success of this species of writing. 

Example 1. He thus describes the scenes of morning in the Allegro. 

" To hear the lark begin his flight, 
And singing, startle the dull night, 
From his watch-tower in the skies, 
Till the dappled dawn doth rise : 
"While the cock, with lively din, 
Scatters the rear of darkness thin, 
And to the stack, or the barn-door, 
Stately struts his dames before : 
Oft listening how the hounds and horn 
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn ; 
While the ploughman near at hand 
Whistles o'er the furrow'd land, 
And the milk-maid singing blythe, 
And the mower whets his scythe; 
And every shepherd tells his tale, 
Under the haw thorn in the dale." 

Example 2. The Penseroso presents the following account of the 
objects of the evening. 

" Oft on a plat of rising ground, 
I hear the far-offcurfew sound 
Over some wide-watered shore, 
Swinging slow with sullen roar. 
Or, if the air will not permit. 
Some still removed place will fit, 
Where glowing embers through the room 
Teach light to counterfeit a gloum, 
Far horn all resort o. mirth, 
Save the cricket on the hearth, 
Or the bellman's drowsy charm, 
To bless the doors from nightly harm ; 
Or let my lamp and midnight hour, 
Be seen in some high lonely tow'r. 
Sometimes let gorgeous tragedy, 
In sceptre'd pall, come sweeping by> 
Presenting Thebes' or Pelop's line, 
Or the tale ot Troy divine." 

Ois. 4. The elegant genius of Parnell has produced some beautiful 
examples of descriptive poetry ; and it is much to be regretted he had 
not indulged the world with more specimens. He possessed a fine im- 
agination, a most correct taste, and great knowledge of human nature. 
His versification is not inferior to that of Pop*? in melodv and concise- 



29£ Descriptive Poetry. 

ness, and is superior in simplicity and perspicuity. It teems with in- 
struction, with the genuine language of the heart ; and there is no 
poetry, perhaps, which the reader can peruse so often with pleasure 1 

Example 1. The Hermit is an extremely beautiful, moral, descrip- 
tive poem, fraught with important instruction, communicated in a sim- 
ple, but dignified manner, and recommended by the most delicate ap- 
peals to the imagination. 

2. All the great epic poets exhibit eminent specimens of descriptive 
poetry. Homer, Virgil, and Ossian, excel in it. The following picture 
of desolation, by Ossian, is conceived with much vigour of imagina- 
tion. 

" I have seen the walls of Baldutka. but they were desolate. The 
flames had resounded in the halli., and the voice of the people is heard 
no more. The stream of Chitha was removed horn its course by the 
fall of the walls. The ihistle shoo': there its lonely head ; the moss 
whistled in the wind. The fox looked out from the window, and the 
rank grass of the wall waved round his head. Desolate is the dwell- 
ing of Morna ; silence is in the house of her fathers !" 

592. The chief errors committed in descriptions, are the 
admission of unmeaning or supernumerary epithets and 
phrases,- the introduction of general ceims, and the inter- 
mixture of trivial or insignificant circumstances clothed in 
pompous and splendid language. The best poets are some- 
times faulty in all these articles. 

IUus. 1. All general terms are improper in descriptions, because 
they suggest either no idea at ail, or none that is fixed ; while the es- 
sence of picturesque description consists in prompting conceptions 
which are palpable, and of which the mind, of course, takes firm hold. 
These can result only from objects particular and distinct. 

Example. Shakspeare, to expose the absurdity of attempting a thing 
impracticable, says, with great energy, in Henry the Fifth : "You 
may as v/ell go about to turn the sun into ice, by fanning in hi3 face 
with a peacock's feather*" 

Jhielysis. Had the poet made the expression general, by leaving out 
the " peacock's feather," he would have mutilated the picture, and de- 
bilitated the impression. How feeble would have been the following 
phraseology ? " You may as well go about to turn the sun into ice, by 
fanning in his face." Had he retained the " feather,' but dropt the 
" peacock," the expression would have been more picturesque : " You 
niaj' as well go about to turn the sun into ice, by fanning Lis face with 
a feather.'' Even this picture, however, is much inferior in beauty and 
vivacity to the particular language the poet hath thought proper to 
adopt : " You may as well go about to turn the sun into ice, by fan- 
ning in his face with a peacock's feather." The mind grasps the im- 
age at once, and is struck with its sprightlincss and propriety. 

593. Forced elevation of the expression above the tone of 
the thought, is another error not uncommon in description. 

Illus. Homer relates, that Achilles commanded his domestics to pre- 
pare a vessel to heat water for washing the dead body of Patroclus, 
which they accordingly performed. Nothing can be more simple than 
the language of the poet. Things are called by their proper names, 
and very few epithets are added. Tope must improve this sitnplo 



Epic Poetry. 293 

phraseology, and he has communicated to it an air of ridicule, hy the 
pompous and figurative expression of his translation. Iliad, xviii, 405. 

" A massy cauldron of stupendous frame 

They brought, and plac'd it o'er the rising flame ; 
Then heap'd the lighted wood ; the flame divides 
Beneath the vase, and climbs around its sides. „ 

In it« wide womb they pour the rushing stream, 
The boiling water bubbles to the brim." 

594. It often happens, that a description presents objects 
which would be extremely disagreeable to the sight, while 
the description itself is not only not disagreeable, but con- 
veys high pleasure. This is a curious phenomenon, and 
merits some attention. Two causes seem to concur in pro- 
ducing this effect. 

Illus. A poetical description resembles an historical painting, the 
merit of which consists in communicating to the different figures the 
same positions and appearance that they hold in nature. And al- 
though the figures be disagreeable, yet the picture may yield much 
pleasure, because the merit of it lies in the accuracy of the imitation. 
The mind surveys with delight the excellence of an art which can im- 
itate nature so completely. The purpose of the description, as well as 
of the picture, is to impart exact ideas of the objects, though it ope- 
rates by words instead of colours. The imitation, in both cases, is the 
chief source of the pleasure. The pleasure of the imitation much more 
than counterbalances the disgust arising from the inspection of the ob- 
ject. This seems to be the first cause. Words, again, have a beauty 
in their sound and arrangement, independent of their signification ; 
the merit of the execution in the picture, and of the composition in 
the description, affords delight. This seems to be the second cause. 
Both causes concur to counteract the disgust excited by the object. 

Scholium. These remarks point out the greatest beauty of descrip- 
tion, which takes place when the object, the imitation, and the expres- 
sion, all concur to augment the pleasure of the reader. In all other 
cases, these partially oppose the effects of one another. 

If, however, an object prompt horror, no excellence of imitation or 
language can recommend its description. The picture of Sin, in Para- 
dise Lost, though drawn with the brightest colours, is of this class. It 
excites horror, and all Milton's eloquence cannot render it tolerable. 



CHAPTER VII, 

EPIC POETRY. 



595. EPIC and dramatic poetry are universally allowed 
to be the most dignified, and, at tfee -ume time, the most 
difficult Sj.-euieb of poetic composition. To contrive a st< rt 
which shall please and interest all readers, by being a\ once 
entertaining, important, and instructive ; to fili it with suit- 



294 Epic Poetry. 

able incidents ; to enliven it with a variety of character.-, 
and of descriptions ; and, throughout a long work, to mafji. 
tain that propriety of sentiment, and that elevation of style, 
which the epic character requires, is unquestionably the 
highest effort of poetical genius. Hence so very few' have 
succeeded in the attempt, that strict critics will "hardly al- 
low any other poems to bear the name of epic, except' the 
Iliad and the iEneid. 

Illus. 1. The plain account of the nature of an epic poem is, the re- 
cital of some illustrious enterprize in a poetical forrn. This is an exact 
definition of this subject. It comprehends several other poems, be- 
sides the Iliad of Homer, the JEneid of Virgil, and the Jerusalem of 
Tasso ; which are, perhaps, the three most regular and complete epic 
works that ever were composed. But to exclude all poems from the 
epic class, which are not formed exactly upon the same model as these, 
is the pedantry of criticism. 

2. We can give exact definitions and descriptions of minerals, plants, 
and animals ; and can arrange them with precision, under the differ- 
ent classes to which they belong, because nature afford? a visiole un- 
varying standard, to which we refer them. But with regard to works 
of taste and imagination, where nature has fixed no standard, but 
leaves scope for beauties of many different kinds, it is absurd to at- 
tempt defining and limiting them with the same precision. 

3. Criticism, when employed in such attempts, degenerates into 
trifling questions about words and names only. 

4. The most competent judges, therefore, have no scruple to class 
such poems, as Milton's Paradise Lost, Lucan's Pharsalia, Stalius's 
Thebaid, Ossian's Fingal and Temora, Camoens' Lusiad, Voltaire's 
Henriade, Fenelon's Telemachus, Glover's Leonidas, and Wilkie's 
Epigoniad, under the same species of composition with the Iliad and 
the ^Eneid ; though some of them approach much nearer than others 
to the perfection of these celebrated works. They are, undoubtedly, 
all epic ; that is, poetical recitals of great adventures ; which is all 
that is meant by this denomination of poetry. (Illus. 1.) 

5. The end which epic poetry proposes, is to extend our ideas of 
human perfection: or, in other words, t© excite admiration. Now 
this can be accomplished only by proper representations of heroic 
deeds, and virtuous characters. For high virtue is the object, which 
all mankind are formed to admire ; and, therefore, epic poems are, 
and must be, favourable to the cause of virtue. Valour, truth, justice, 
fidelity, friendship, piety, magnanimity, -are the objects which, in the 
course of such compositions, are presented to our minds, under the 
most splendid and honourable colours. 

6. In beftalf of virtuous personages- our affections are engaged ; in 
their designs, and their distresses, we are interested ; th.* generous 
and public affections are awakened ; the mind i? purified from s< ..>ual 
and mean pursuits, and accustomed to take part in great, heroic en- 
terprises. It is, indeed, no small testimony in honour of virtu'i . :at 
several of the most refined and elegant enfertainments of up 

such as that species of poetical composition which vre- nev. er. 

must be grounded on moral sentiments and impres 
testimony of such weight, that, were it in the power of sceptic.-.- phi- 
losophers, to weaken the force of those reasonings which establish the 



Epic Poetry. 295 

Essential distinctions between vice and virtue, the writings of epic po- 
ets alone were sufficient to refute their false philosophy ; shewing, by 
that appeal which they constantly make to the feelings of mankind in 
favour of virtue, that the foundations of it are laid deep and strong in 
human nature. 

596. The general strain and spirit of epic composition, 
sufficiently mark its distinction from the other kinds of 
poetry. 

Illus. 1. In pastoral writing, the reigning idea is innocence and 
tranquillity. Compassion is the great object of tragedy ; ridicule the 
province of comedy. The predominant character of the epic is, admi- 
ration excited by heroic actions. 

2. It is sufficiently distinguished from history, both by its poetical 
form, and the liberty of fiction which it assumes. It is a more calm 
composition than tragedy. It admits, nay, requires, the pathetic and 
the violent, on particular occasions ; but the pathetic is not expected 
to be its general character. It requires, more than any other species 
of poetry, a grave, equal, and supported dignity. 

8. It takes in a greater compass of time and action, than dramatic 
writing admits ; and thereby allows a more full display of characters. 
Dramatic writings display characters chiefly by means of sentiments 
and passions ; epic poetry, chiefly by means of actions. The emo- 
tions, therefore, which it raises, are not so violent, but they are more 
prolonged. 

Obs. These are the general characteristics of this species of compo- 
sition. But, in order to give a more particular and critical view of it, 
let us consider the epic poem under three heads ; first, with respect to 
the subject, or action ; secondly, with respect to the actors, or char- 
acters ; and, lastly, with respect to the narration of the poet. 

597. The action, or subject of the epic poem, must have 
three qualifications : it must be one ; it must be great $ 
it must be interesting. 

Illus. 1. First, it must be one action, or enterprise, which the poet 
■chooses for his subject. 

Example 1. In all the great epic poems, unity of action is sufficient- 
ly apparent. Virgil, for instance, has chosen for his subject, the es- 
tablishment of iEneas in Italy. From the beginning to the end of the 
poem, this object is ever in our view, and links all the parts of it to- 
gether with full connection. The unity of the Odyssey is of the same 
nature : the return and re-establishment of Ulysses in his own country. 
The subject of Tasso is the recovery of Jerusalem from the Infidels ; 
that of Milton, the expulsion of our first parents from Paradise ; and 
both of them are unexceptionable in the unity of the story. 

2. The professed subject of the Iliad, is the anger of Achilles, with 
the consequences which it produced. The Greeks carry on many lm . 
successful engagements against the Trojans, as long as "they are depri- 
ved of the assistance of Achilles. Upon his being appeased and recon- 
ciled 10 Agamemnon, victory follows, and the poem closes. 

Analysis. It must be owned, however, that the unity, or connecting 
principle, is not quite so sensible to the imagination here, as in the 
^Eneid. For, throughout many books of the Iliad, Achilles is out of 
"26 



■■ 



296 Epic Poetry. 

sight ; he is lost in iuaction ; and the fancy dwells on no other objcci 
than the success of the two armies that we see contending in war, 

Illus, 2. The unity of the epic action is not to be so strictly interpret- 
ed, as if it excluded all episodes, or subordinate actions. 

3. Episodes, are certain actions, or incidents, introduced into the 
narration, connected with the principal action, yet not of such import- 
ance as to destroy the main subject of the poem, if they had been 
omitted. 

Example. Of this nature are the interview of Hector with Androma- 
che, in the Iliad ; the story of Caucus, and that of Nisus and Euryalus, 
in the JEneid ; the adventures of Tancred with Erminia and Ciorinda, 
in the. Jerusalem ; and the prospect of his descendants exhibited to 
Adam, in the last books of Paradise Lost. 

598. Such episodes as these, are not only permitted to 
an epic poet; but, provided they be properly executed, are 
great ornaments to his work. The rules regarding them 
are the following : 

599. Rule first. They must be naturally introduced : 
they must have a sufficient connection with the subject of 
the poem ; they must be inferior parts that belong to it ; 
but not mere appendages stuck to it. 

Illus. The episode of Olinda and Sophronia, in the second book of 
Tasso's Jerusalem, is faulty, by transgressing this rule. It is too much 
detached from the rest of the work ; and being introduced so near 
the openiugof the poem, misleads the reader into an expectation, that 
it is to be of some future consequence ; whereas it prores to be con- 
nected with nothing that follows. In proportion as any episode is 
slightly 'related to the main subject, it should always be the shorter. 
The passion of Dido in the iEneid, and the snares of Armida in the 
Jerusalem, which are expanded so fully in these poems, cannot with 
propriety be called episodes. They are constituent parts of the work, 
and form a considerable share of the intrigue of the poem. 

600. Rule second. Episodes ought to present to us, ob- 
jects of a different kind, from those which go before, and 
those which follow, in the course of the poem. For it is 
principally for the sake of variety, that episodes are intro- 
duced into an epic composition/ In so long a work, they 
tend to diversify the subject, and to relieve the reader, by 
shifting the scene. In the midst of combats, therefore, an 
episode of the martial kind would be out of place ; whereas, 
Hectors visit to Andromache in the Iliad, and Erminia's 
adventure with the shepherd, in the seventh book of the Je- 
rusalem, affords us a well-judged and pleasing retreat from 
camps and battles. 

601. Rule third. As an episode is a professed embellish- 
ment, it ought to be particularly elegant and ivell-Jinished; 
and, accordingly, it is, for the' most part, in pieces of this 
kind, that poets put forth their strength. The episodes of 



Epic Poetry. 297 

Teribazus and Ariana, in Leonidas, and of the death of 
Hen ales, in the Epigoniad, are the two greatest beauties in 
these poems 

60:2. The unity of the epic action necessarily supposes, 
that the action be entire and complete ; that is, as Aristotle 
well expresses it, that it have a beginning, a middle, and an 
end. 

Mas. Either by relating the whole, [11 his own person, or by intro- 
ducing some of his actors to relate what had passed before the open- 
ing of the poem, the author must always contrive to give us full in- 
formation of every thing- that belongs to his subject ; he must not leave 
our curiosity, in any article, ungratified ; he must bring us precisely to 
the accomplishment of his plan ; and then conclude. 

603. The second qualification of an epic action, is, that 
it be greats that it have sufficient splendour and import- 
ance, both to fix our attention, and to justify the magnificent 
apparatus which the poet bestows upon it. 

Ob<. This is so evidently requisite as not to require illustration ; and 
indeed, hardly any who have attempted epic poetry, have failed in choos- 
ing some subject sufficiently important, either by the nature of the ac- 
tion, or by the fame of the personages concerned in it. - 

604. It contributes to the grandeur of the epic subject, 
that it be not of a modem date, nor fall within any period 
of history with which we are intimately acquainted. 

Obs. Eoth Lucan and Voltaire have, in the choice of their subjects, 
transgressed this rule, and they have, upon that account, succeeded 
worse. Antiquity is favourable to those high and august ideas which 
epic poetry is designed to raise. It tends to aggrandize, in our imagin- 
ation, both persons and events ; and what is still more material, it al- 
lows the poet the liberty of adorning his subject by means of fiction. 
Whereas, as soon as he comes within the verge of real and authenti- 
cated history, this liberty is abridged. 

605. The third property required in the epic poem, is, 
that it be interesting. It is not sufficient for this purpose 
that it be great. For deeds of mere valour, how heroic 
soever, may prove cold and tiresome. 

Mas. Much will depend on The happy choice of some subject, which 
shall, by its nature, interest the public: as when the poet selects for 
his hero,- oue who is the founder, or the deliverer, oi-the favourite ot 
his nation ; or when he writes of achievements that have been highly 
celebrated, or have been connected with important consequences to 
any public cause. Most of the great epic poems are abundantly fail tu- 
nate in this respect, and were, no doubt, as interesting to those ages 
and countries in which they were composed, as they are to us. 

606. But the chief circumstance which renders an epic 
poem interesting, and which tends to interest, not one age 



29g Epic Poetry. 

or country alone, but all readers, is the skilful conduct of 
the author in the management of his subject. 

Illus. He mast so contrive his plan, as that it shall comprehend 
many affecting incidents. He must not dazzle us perpetually with 
valiant achievements ; for all readers become tired of constant fight- 
ing, and battles ; but he must study to touch our hearts. He may 
sometimes be awful and august ; he roust often be tender and pathet- 
ic ; he must give us gentle and pleasing scenes of love, friendship, and 
affection. The more an epic poem abounds with situations which awa- 
ken the feelings of humanity, the more interesting it is : and these al- 
ways form the favourite passages of the work. No epic poets are 
more happy in this respect than Virgil and Tasso. 

607- Much, too, depends on the characters of the heroes, 
for rendering the poem interesting; that they be such as 
shall strongly attach the readers, and make them take part 
in the dangers which the heroes encounter. 

Illus. These dangers, or obstacles, form what is called the nodus', 
or the intrigue of the epic poem ; in the judicious conduct of which 
consists much of the poet's art. He must rouse our attention by a 
prospect of the difficulties which seem to threaten disappointment to 
the enterprise of his favourite personages ; he must make these diffi- 
culties grow and thicken upon us, by degrees ; till, after having kept 
us, for some time, in a state of agitation and suspense, he paves the 
way, by a proper preparation of incidents, for the winding up of the 
plot in a natural and probable manner. It is plain, that every tala 
which is designed to engage attention, must be conducted on a plan of 
this sort. 

608, A question has been moved, Whether the nature of 
the epic poem does not require that it should always end 
successfully ? Most critics are inclined to think, that a 
successful issue is the most proper ; and they appear to 
have reason on their side. An unhappy conclusion depress- 
es the mind, and is opposite to the elevating emotions which 
belong to this species of poetry. 

609. With regard to the time or duration of the epic ac- 
tion, no precise boundaries can be ascertained. A consid- 
erable extent is always allowed to it, as it does not neces- 
sarily depend on those violent passions which can be suppo- 
sed to have only a short continuance. 

Illus. The Iliad, which is formed upon the anger of Achilles, has, 
with propriety, 4he shortest duration of any of the great epic poems. 
According toBossu, the action lasts no longer than forty-seven days. 
The action of the Odyssey, computed from the taking of Troy to the 
peace of Ithaca, extends to eight years and a half; and the action of 
the JEneid, computed in the same way, from the taking of Troy to the 
death of Turnus, includes about six years. But if we measure the pe- 
riod only of the poet's own narration, or compute from the time m 
which the hero makes his first appearance, till the conclusion, the de- 
ration of both these last poems is brought within a much smaller com- 






Epic Poetry. 299 

sey, beginning with Ulysses in the island of Calypso, 
comprehends fifty-eight days only ; and the ,-Eneid, beginning with 
the storm, which throws jEueas upon the coast of Africa, is reckoned to 
include, at the most, a year and some months. 

Obs. Having thus treated of the epic action, or the subject of the poem, 
we proceed next to make some observations on the actors or personages. 

610. As it is the business of an epje poet to copy after na- 
ture, and to form a probable interesting tale, he must study 
to give all his personages proper and well-supported charac- 
ters, such as display the features of the human nature. 
This is what Aristotle calls, giving manners to tlie poem. 

Obs. It is by no means necessary, that all his actors be morally 
good ; imperfect, nay, vicious characters, ma3 r find a proper place -, 
though the nature of epic poetry seems to require, that the principal 
figures exhibited should be such as tend to raise admiration and love, 
rather than hatred or contempt. But whatever the character be which 
a poet gives to &.ny of his actors, he must take care to preserve it uni- 
form, and consistent with itseif. Every thing which that person says, 
or does, must be suited to this uniformity, and must serve to distinguish 
him from any other. 

611.. Poetic characters may be. divided into two kinds, 
general and particular. 

1st. General characters are, such as wise., brave, virtuous, 
without any farther distinction. 

9.nd. Particular characters express the species of brave- 
ry, of wisdom, of virtue, for which any one is eminent. 

Ttlus. They exhibit the peculiar features which distinguish one indi- 
vidual from another, which mark the diifereuce of the same moral 
quality in different men, according as it is combined with other dispo- 
sitions in their temper. In drawing such particular characters, the 
genius of the poet is chiefly exerted. 

Obs. In this part, Homer has principally excelled ; Tasso hj.s come 
the nearest to Homer ; and Virgil has been the most deficient. 

612. It has been the practice of all epic poets, to select 
some one personage, whom they distinguish above all the 
rest, and make the hero of the tale. This is considered as 
essential to epic composition, and is attended with several 
advantages. 

Mas. 1. It renders the unity of the subject more sensible, when there 
Is one principal figure, to which, as to a centre, all the rest refer. It 
tends to interest us more in the enterprise which is carried on ; and it 
gives the poet an opportunity of exerting his talents for adorning and 
displaying one character, with peculiar splendour. 

2. It has been asked, Who then is the hero of Paradise Lost ? Satan, 
it has been answered by some critics ; but Adam is undoubtedly the 
hero ; that is, the capital and most interesting figure ii. the poem. 

6lS. Besides human actors, there are personages of an- 
other kind, that usuallv occupy no small place in epic poet- 



300 Epic Poetry. 

ry -, namely, the gods, or supernatural beings ; forming 
what is called the machinery of the epic poem. 

Ill us. 1. Almost all the French critics decide in favour of machinery, 
as essential to the constitution of an epic poem. This decision seems 
to be founded on the practice of Homer and Virgil. These poets very 
properly embellished their story by the traditional tales and popular 
legends of their own country ; according to which, all the great trans- 
actions of the heroic times were intermixed with the fables of their dei- 
ties, (lllus. Art. 29.) 

2. In other countries, and other ages, where there is not the like ad- 
vantage of current superstition, and popular credulity, epic poetry has 
been differently conducted. Lucan has composed a very spirited poem, 
certainly of the epic kind, where neither gods nor supernatural beings 
are at all employed. The author of Leonidas has made an attempt of 
[he same kind, not without success ; and beyond doubt, wherever a 
poet gives us a regular heroic story, well connected in Us parts, adorn- 
ed with characters, and supported with proper dignity and elevation, 
though his agents be every one of them human, he has fulfilled the chief 
requisites of this sort of composition, and has a just title to be classed 
with epic writers. 

3. Mankind do not consider poetical writings with a philosophical 
eye. They saek entertainment from them ; and for the bulk of read- 
ers, indeed for almost all men, the marvellous has a great charm. It 
gratifies and fills the imagination ; and gives room for many striking; 
and sublime descriptions. In epic poetry, in particular, where admi- 
ration and lofty ideas are supposed to reign, the marvellous and super- 
natural find, if any where, their proper place. They both enable the 
poet to aggrandize his subject, by means of those august and solemn 
objects which religion and supernatural agents introduce into it ; and 
they allow him to enlarge and diversify his plan, by comprehending 
within it the realities of earth/the probabilities of Elysium and of Tar- 
tarus, men and invisible beings, aud the whole circle of the universe. 

614. At the same time, in the use of this supernatural 
machinery, it becomes a poet to be temperate and prudent. 
He is not at liberty to invent what system of the marvel- 
lous he pleases. It must always have some foundation in 
popular belief. He must avail himself in a decent manner, 
either of the religious faith, or the superstitious credulity of 
the country wherein he lives, or of which he writes, so as to 
give an air of probability to events which are most contrary 
to the common course of nature. 

Illus. Whatever machinery he employs, he must not overload us with 
ft ; nor withdraw human actions and manners too much from view, 
nor obscure them under a cloud of incredible fictions. His chief bu- 
siness is to relate to men, the actions and the exploits of men; by these 
principally he is to interest, and touch our hearts ; and, therefore, if 
probability be altogether banished from his work, it can never make a 
deep or a lasting impression. Paradise Lost being altogether theolo- 
gical, Miiton's supernatural beings form not the machinery, but are 
the principal actors in the poem. 

615. Allegorical personages, fame, discord, love, and the 



Epic Poetry. 501 

like, it may be safely pronounced, have been supposed to 
form the worst machinery of any. 

Jllus. In description they are sometimes allowable, and may serve 
for embellishment ; but they should never be permitted to bear any 
share in the action of the poem. For being plain and declared fictions, 
mere names of general ideas, to which even fancy cannot attribute any 
existence as persons, if they are introduced as mingling with human 
actors, an intolerable confusion of shadows and realities arise, and all 
consistency of action is utterly destroyed. (See Art. 307. and 308.) 

616. In the narration of the poet, which is the last head 
that remains to be considered, it is not material, whether he 
relate the whole story in his own character, or introduce 
some of his personages to relate any part of the action that 
had passed before the poem opens. 

Illus. Homer follows the one method in his Iliad, and the other in 
his Odyssey. Virgil has, in this respect, imitated the conduct of the 
Odyssey ; Tasso that of the Iliad. 

617. In the proposition of the subject, the invocation of 
the muse, and other ceremonies of the introduction, poets 
may vary at their pleasure. 

Jllus. It is trifling to make these little formalities the object of pre- 
cise rule, any farther, than that the subject of the work should always- 
be clearly proposed, and without affected or unsuitable pomp. For, 
according to Horace's noted rule, no introduction should ever set out 
too high, or promise too much, lest the author should not fulfil the ex- 
pectations he has raised. 

618. What is of most importance in the tenor of the nar- 
ration is, that it be perspicuous, animated, and enriched 
with all the beauties of poetry. No sort of composition re- 
quires more strength, dignity, and^zre of imagination, than 
the epic poem. 

Illus. 1. It is the region within which we look for every thing that 
is sublime in description, tender in sentiment, and bold and lively in ex- 
pression ; and, therefore, though an author's plan should be faultless, 
and his story ever so well conducted, yet if he be feeble, or flat in 
style, destitute of affecting scenes, and deficient in poetical colouring, 
he can have no success. 

2. The ornaments which epic poetry admits, must all be of the grave 
and chaste kind. Nothing that is loose, ludicrous, or affected, finds 
any place there. All the objects which it presents ought to be either 
great, or tender, or pleasing. Descriptions of disgusting or shocking 
objects should as much as possible be avoided ; and therefore the fa- 
ble of the Harpies, in the third book of the iEneid, and the allegory of 
Sin and Death, in the second book of Paradise Lost, had been better 
omitted in these celebrated poems. 

Obs. The judicious teacher is left to illustrate, from the epic poems 
to which we have referred, the several branches of composition and 
ornament for which we have furnished rules or criteria of judgment. 



502 Pronunciation, or Delivery. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CONCLUSION. 
ON PRONUNCIATION, OR DELIVERY. 

619. THE great objects which every speaker will natu- 
rally have in view in forming his delivery, are, first, to speak 
so as to be fully and easily understood by all who hear him ; 
and next, to speak with grace and force, so as to please and 
to move his audience. 

620. In order to be fully and easily understood, the four 
chief requisites are, a due degree of loudness of voice ; dis- 
tinctness ; slowness; and propriety of pronunciation. 

621. The first attention of every public speaker, doubt- 
less, must be to make himself be heard by ail those to whom 
he speaks. He must endeavour to fiii with his voice the 
space occupied by the assembly. 

Obs. 1. This power of voice, it may be thought, is wholly a natural 
talent. It is so in a good measure ; but, however, it may receive con- 
siderable assistance from art. Much dependi for this purpose on tho 
proper pitch and management of the voice. 

2. Every man has three pitches in his„ voice ; the high, the middle, 
and the low one. The high, is that which he uses in calling aloud to 
some one at a distance. The low is, when he approaches to a whis- 
per. The middle is, that which he employs in common conversation, 
and which he should generally use in public discourse. 

622. In the next place, to being well heard, and clearly 
understood, distinctness of articulation contributes more, 
perhaps, than mere loudness of sound. 

Obs. The quantity of sound necessary to fill even a large space, is 
smaller than is commonly imagined : and with distinct articulation, a 
man of a weak voice vy'dl make it reach farther than the strongest voice 
can reach without distinct articulation. 

Corol. To this, therefore, every public speaker ought to pay great at- 
tention. He must give every sound which he utters, its due propor- 
tion, and make every syllable, and even every letter in the word which 
he pronounces, be heard distinctly ; without slurring, whispering, or 
suppressing any of the proper sounds. 

623. In the third place, in order to articulate distinctly, 
moderation is requisite with regard to the speed of pro- 
nouncing. Precipitancy of speech confounds all articula- 
tion, and all meaning. 

Obs. We need scarcely observe, lhat there may be also an extreme 
on the opposite side. It is obvious, that a lifeless, drawling pronun- 



Pronunciation, or Delivery. 30b 

nation, which allows the minds of the hearers to be always outrunning 
the speaker, must render every discourse insipid and fatiguing. But 
ihe extreme of speaking too fast is much more common, and requires 
the more to be guarded against, because, when it has grown up into a 
habit, few errors are more difficult to be corrected. 

624. After these fundamental attentions to the pitch and 
management of the voice, to distinct articulation, and to a 
proper degree of slowness of speech, what a public speaker 
must, in the fourth place, study, is, propriety of pronuncia- 
tion ; or the giving to every word which he utters, that 
sound, which the most polite usage of the language appro- 
priates to it ; in opposition to broad, vulgar, or provincial 
pronunciation. 

06*. This is requisite, bolh for speaking intelligibly, and for speak- 
ing with grace or beauty. Instructions concerning this article, can be 
given by the living voice only. 

625. Emphasis, pauses, tones, and gestures. 

626. By emphasis, is meant a stronger and fuller sound 
of voice, by which we distinguish the accented syllable of 
some word, on which we design to lay particular stress, and 
to show how it affects the rest of the sentence. 

Obs. 1. Sometimes the emphatic word must be distinguished by a 
particular tone of voice, as well as by a stronger accent. On the right 
management of the emphasis, depend the whole life and spirit of every 
discourse. 

2. If no emphasis be placed on any words, not only is discourse 
rendered heavy and lifeless, but the meaning left often ambiguous. If 
the emphasis be placed wrong, we pervert and confound the meaning 
wholly. 

Example. " Do you ride to town to day ?" is capable of no fewer 
than four different acceptations, according as the emphasis is differ- 
ently placed on the words. If it be pronounced thus : Do you ride to 
town to-day ? the answer may naturally be, No ; I send my servant in 
my stead. If thus, Do you ride to town to-day ? No ; I intend to walk. 
Do you ride to town to day ? No ; I ride out into the fields. Do you 
ride to town to-day ? No ; but I shall to-morrow. 

Obs. 3. In like manner, iu solemn discourse, the whole force and 
beauty of an expression often depend on the accented word ; and we 
may present to the hearers quite different views of the same sentiment; 
by placing the emphasis differently. 

Example. In the following words of our Saviour, observe in what 
different lights the thought is placed, according as the words are pro- 
nounced : " Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss ?" Be- 
trayest thou — makes the reproach turn on the infamy of treachery. 
Betrayest thou — makes it rest, upon Judas's connection with his Mas- 
ter. Betrayest thou the Son of Man — rests it, upon the Son of Man's 
personal character and eminence Betrayest thou the Son of Man 
with a kiss? — turns it, upon his prostituting the signal of peace and 
friendship, to the purpose of a mark of destruction. 



304 Pronunciation, or Delivery. 

627. Next to emphasis, the pauses in speaking demand 
attention. These are of two kinds; first, emphatieal paus- 
es ; and next, such as mark the distinctions of sense. 

Illut. 1. An emphatieal pause is made, after something has been 
said of peculiar moment, and on which we want to fix the hearer's at- 
tention. Sometimes before such a thing has been said, we usher it in 
with an emphatieal pause. Such pauses have the same effect as a strong 
emphasis ; and are subject to the same rules ; especially to the cau- 
tion just now given, of* not repeating them too frequently. For as they 
excite uncommon attention, and of course raise expectation, if the im- 
portance of the matter be not fully answerable to such expectation, 
they occasion disappointment and disgust. 

2. But the most frequent and the principal use of pauses, is to mark 
the divisions of the sense, and at the same time to allow the speaker to 
draw his breath ; and the proper and graceful adjustment of such 
pauses is one of the most nice and difficult articles in delivery. 

628. When we are reading or reciting verse, there is a 
peculiar difficulty in making the pauses justly. The dif- 
ficulty arises from the melody of verse, which dictates to 
the ear pauses or rests of its own ; and to adjust and com- 
pound these properly with the pauses of the sense, so as 
neither to hurt the ear, nor oft'end the understanding, is so 
very nice a matter, that it is no wonder we so seldom meet 
with good readers of poetry. 

Ilius. 1. There are two kinds of pauses that belong to the music of 
verse ; one is, the pause at the end of the line ; and the other, the 
csesural pause in the middle of it. With regard to the pause at the 
end of the line ; which marks that strain or verse to be finished, rhyme 
renders this always sensible, and in some measure compels us to ob- 
serve it in our pronunciation. 

2. In blank verse, where there is a greater liberty permitted of run- 
ning the lines into one another, sometimes without any suspension in 
the sense, it has been made a question, Whether in reading such verse 
with propriety, any regard at all should be paid to the close of a line ? 

3. We ought, therefore, certainly to read blank verse so as to make 
every line sensible to the ear. At the same time, in doing so, every 
appearance of sing-song and tone must be carefully guarded against. 
The close of the line, where it makes no pause in the meaning, ought 
to be marked, not by such a tone as is used in finishing a sentence ; 
but without either letting the voice fall, or elevating it, it should be 
marked only by such a slight suspension of sound, as may distinguish 
the passage from one line to another without injuring the meaning. 

4. The other kind of musical pause, is that which falls somewhere 
about the middle of the verse, and divides it into two hemistichs ; a 
pause, not so great as that which belongs to the close of the line, but 
still sensible to an ordinary ear. (See Jirl. 569.) 

629. The rule of proper pronunciation here is, to regard 
only the pause which the sense forms; and to read the line 
accordingly. The neglect of the eeesural pause may make 
the line sound somewhat unharmoniously ; but the effect 



_■ 



Pronunciation, or JJehvery. ouo 

would be much worse, if the sense were sacrificed to the 

630. Tones in pronunciation are different both from em- 
phasis and pauses ; they consist in the modulation of the 
voice, and the notes or variations of sound which we employ 
in speaking. 

Ilbis. 1. How much of the propriety, the force and grace of dis- 
course, must depend on these, will appear from this single considera- 
tion ; that to almost every sentiment we utter, more especially to eve- 
ry strong emotion, nature hath adapted some peculiar tone of voice ; 
insomuch, that he who should tell another that he was very angry, or 
much atieved, in a tone which did not suit such emotions, instead of 
being believed, would be laughed at. 

2. Sympathy is one of the most powerful principles by which per- 
suasive discourse works upon the mind. The speaker endeavours to 
transfuse into his hearers his own sentiments and emotions : which he 
can never be successful in doing, unless he utters thetn in such a man- 
ner as to convince the hearers that he feels them. The proper ex- 
pression of tones, therefore, deserves to be attentively studied by eve- 
ry one who would be a successful orator. 

3. Follow nature ; consider how she teaches you to utter any senti- 
ment or feeling of your heart. Imagine a subject of debate started in 
conversation among grave and wise men, and yourself bearing a share 
in it. Think after what manner, with what tones and inflections of 
voice, vou would on such an occasion express yourself, when you were 
most in earnest, and sought most to be listened to. These are the 
tones which the advocate carries with him to the bar, the clergyman, 
ta the pulpit, and the patriot and demagogue, to any public assembly. 
Let then these be the foundation of your manner of pronouncing, and 
you will take the surest method of rendering your delivery both 
agreeable and persuasive. 

631. Of gesture, or what is called action in public dis- 
course. 

632. The fundamental rule as to propriety of action, is 
undoubtedly the same with what hath been given as to pro- 
priety of tone. Attend to the looks and gestures, in which 
earnestness, indignation, compassion, or any other emotion, 
discovers itself to most advantage in the common inter- 
course of men ; and let these be your models. 

Illas. 1. Some of these looks and gestures are common to all men ; 
and there are also certain peculiarities of manner which distinguish 
every individual. A public speaker must take that manner which is 
most natural to himself. For it is here, just as in tones. 

2. It is not the business of a speaker to form to himself a certain 
set of motions and gestures, which he thinks most becoming and 
agreeable, and to practice these in public, without their having any 
correspondence to the manner which is natural to him in private. 
His gestures ai>ri motions ought all to carry that kind of expression 
winch nature has dictated to him : and uniess this be the case, it is 
impossible, by means of any study, to avoid their appearing stiff and 
forced. 



306 Pronunciation , or Delivery, 

3. The study of action in public speaking, consists chiefly in guard 
ing against awkward and disagreeable motions, and in learning to per- 
form such as are natural to the speaker, in the most becoming manner. 
For this end it has been advised by writers on this subject, to practice 
before a mirror, where one may see and judge of his own gestures. 

Scholium. To succeed well in delivery, nothing is more necessary 
than for a speaker to guard against a certain flutter of spirits, which 
is peculiarly incident to those who begin to speak in public. He must 
endeavour, above all things, to be collected, and master of himself. 
For this end, he will find nothing of more use to him, than to study to 
become wholly engaged in his subject ; to be possessed with a sense of 
its importance or seriousness ; to be concerned much more to persuade 
than to please. He will generally please most, when pleasing is not 
his sole nor chief aim. This is the only rational aud proper method 
of raising one's self above that timid and bashful regard to an audi- 
ence, which is so ready to disconcert a speaker, both as to what he is 
to say, and as to his manner of saying it. 

Finally. Guard against all affectation, which is the certain ruin of 
good delivery. Let your manner, whatever it is, be your own ; nei- 
ther imitated from another, nor assumed upon some imaginary model, 
which is unnatural to you. Whatever is native, even though accom- 
panied with several defects, yet is likely to please; because it has the 
appearance of corning from the heart. Whereas a delivery, attended 
with several acquired graces and beauties, if it be not easy and free, 
if it '*etray the marks of art and affectation, never fails to disgust. 



THE END. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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